


To Save Someone Lost

by Kateis_Cakeis



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alivebur, Angst, Dream Smp, Fluff, Gen, Ghostbur, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Wilbur Soot-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28656921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kateis_Cakeis/pseuds/Kateis_Cakeis
Summary: Ghostbur didn't want to be brought back to life, but Phil had forced his resurrection regardless.Except... something had... gone wrong? He was still dead, and in the ravine, but it had no buttons and...Was that Alivebur?AKA Ghostbur gets resurrected but instead of being brought back, he gets sent back in time. Can he change the course of his life for the better?
Comments: 98
Kudos: 433
Collections: Time Travel Fics That Water My Crops





	1. A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this for a while but ohhh boy, are things changing fast in the SMP!  
> Which is why I'm posting the first chapter now, so I don't feel like the start is irrelevant XD

“Phil, no! Phil, don’t!” Ghostbur screamed, banging against the glass that encased him.

Phil stared at him blankly, like a judgemental father. His hair was dull, his eyes too focused and unfocused at the same time. Doing this… this mission had tired him out, thinned him until he was nothing more than a man doing what he thought right. But this wasn’t right, because Ghostbur didn’t want this, he _didn’t_. “I’m sorry, Will. It has to be done.”

“No!” His eyes shifted to Dream in the corner. He had helped Phil do this, he had betrayed everything Ghostbur had wanted in life after death. And why…? Why would he want Alivebur back? From what he remembered, from what he had read, Alivebur had always gone against Dream? Did he hope Alivebur could be controlled? Brought to his side? “Please…”

“I refuse to let you be dead any longer!”

Ghostbur gritted out a low growl of frustration. He’d been remembering more recently, a lot more of his life, of what he had done, and he had retained those memories. He knew that Alivebur would hate to be back, and he knew… “This isn’t what Alivebur would have wanted!”

Phil pushed a totem up against the glass. “How do you know what Alivebur would have wanted?! You don’t remember him! And I cut his life short, I have to do this, Will!”

“No, no, no, you don’t, you don’t! He asked you to kill him, respect his wishes _please_!”

Phil shook his head, clearly the admission of memory had flown straight over his head. He began chanting, and all the totems that had been placed around the room – there was so many of them! – lit up, their green eyes glowing bright. Soon the room was bathed in green, and Dream’s smile poked out from beneath his mask. Control then, that’s what he wanted. Perhaps Phil was in his debt for all these totems. They were no easy item to get.

After a few moments, Phil’s chanting stopped, and Dream pushed off the wall, watching closely. The green light seeped towards the box Ghostbur had been trapped in, towards the one totem Phil was holding. A cold chill ran up Ghostbur’s back as Phil’s lips twitched upwards. It was… working?

There was a pause in the atmosphere, like nothing was going to happen then–

He screamed and the world went dark.

\--

He jolted, a feeling of an awful cold passed over him. Was he…? He opened his eyes, all he could see was stone. Slowly, he sat up, staring at his hands.

Oh.

Still grey. Still dead. He had his yellow jumper on, just like before. But… there was no Phil, no Dream…

Only then did he really take in his surroundings. He was in the latter half of a cave, and if he leant a bit forward, he could see a pit carved out in the wall. Oh… oh no.

There were no buttons, but it was well decorated with basalt and cobble, the smell of smoke from the campfire was strong, and the lanterns were brightly lit. He picked himself up. The part with the roof and the crafting table was right in front of him. He climbed up onto it, staring across the ravine. Were… Phil and Dream here?

It seemed empty, devoid of anyone.

Until Ghostbur clasped eyes on… What the _fuck_ was this? Because that was… that was… Alivebur. Being in Pogtopia was fair enough, but… why was Alivebur here? Why was the ravine without buttons? It was after the festival, definitely, but… but before, before… Oh my god, it was _before_.

Was this in his head? What about the revival? Was he dreaming? Was that it?

“What the…” Alivebur said, his words echoing off the walls. He was down by the chests, leaning against them. “What is…”

Ghostbur jumped down from the roof, walking across the wooden path towards him. “How are you here?”

“What do you mean how am I here?” He scrunched up his brow. “You’re… me? How are _you_ here?”

“What’s the date?”

Alivebur shook his head. “Why are you grey?”

Ghostbur bit at his lip. Oh… no. “I’m dead.”

“Wha…” Alivebur scrambled up, his coat swaying. “What do you mean you’re _dead_? I’m very much alive.”

Ghostbur shrugged. “I think I’m from the future.”

“You _think_?”

“I don’t know! Something happened and I woke up here, for all I know this is in my head!”

Alivebur slipped his hands into his pockets. “Or mine.”

“No, no, because I’m the most recent version of myself, I think _I’d_ know.”

“Hm, then tell me what happens.”

Ghostbur smiled slightly. “You always did want to know what fate had befallen you.” He glanced to the right, to the potato farm that had been empty for a while now. “I remember that, vaguely.”

Alivebur followed his line of sight. “Vaguely?”

“I’m still regaining my memory. I lost all the sad memories when I became a ghost.”

“That’s… oddly specific for a…” He stepped in front of Ghostbur. “Why did you lose them?”

“I’m not sure. I think it’s the trauma.” Ghostbur fiddled with his sleeve, stepping back from Alivebur. “For the longest time, I only had what other people told me to go off… I thought, and still think, that you’re a bad man who had to die.”

Alivebur sucked in a shaky breathe, moving away, collapsing against the furnaces he had backed up into. He curled into himself on the floor, shaking his head. “I’m… How much do you remember then?”

“Mostly everything now, there are still spotty bits here and there, but I’ve retained the vast majority of the bad memories.”

“And you still think…” He looked up at Ghostbur, eyes shining, “that I had to die?”

Ghostbur pursed his lips. “I wanted it. Everyone hated you, they prefer me being dead.”

Alivebur scoffed wetly. “That’s just the self-hatred talking… right?”

“Well, I always remembered my death because it was a happy memory.”

“That…” He looked Ghostbur right in the eye. “Did I kill myself?”

Ghostbur shifted on his feet. Should he really tell himself? That he had… Well, he’d already implied it, but… This version of him was _alive_ , and for all he knew, this was real, not merely in his head. But what was the point in lying to himself? He did that enough anyway. “No… I asked Phil too.”

“P– Phil?” Alivebur choked out, hands quivering.

“Yes. He came to stop me but failed, so I asked him, I begged him to kill me.” Ghostbur rubbed at his arm. “He was hesitant, he didn’t want to, but I… made sure he couldn’t… not kill me.”

Alivebur buried his head in his knees. “Fuck…”

“I’m s–”

“So, I blew it up then?”

Ghostbur curled his arms around himself. “Yes.”

“God…” Alivebur stuttered out. He raised his head, tears shining in his eyes. “I thought I was going to do it… the other day. After the festival, god, _during_ it. But I don’t… I don’t _want_ to kill my friends.”

“No one died in the explosion. They all had full netherite on.”

“Oh. Good.”

Ghostbur moved beside Alivebur, sitting next to him. “I thought you still wanted to kill them… at this point? That’s what I remember.”

Alivebur shook his head, staring forwards, eyes drifting between the grass and the stairs. “I… I don’t know. Shouldn’t you know?”

“Maybe. But I blocked out my memories on purpose.”

Alivebur sighed. “Seems we’re both in the same boat.”

“Which boat?”

“The one where we pretend everything’s fine and lie to ourselves.”

Ghostbur snorted, nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ve been on that boat ever since I woke up dead.”

He tapped his fingers off his leg, humming gently. Why was this happening? Sure, talking to Alivebur was strangely… nice, in a way that it revealed more of his feelings but… it couldn’t be real, could it? Was it a test? A dream? Or had he truly gone back in time? Could he… change things?

“Oh…” Ghostbur whispered. “I think I know what I have to do.”

Alivebur leant forward to catch his eyesight. “Really? You think this is real?”

“If it is,” He locked eyes with Alivebur, “I think I might have to keep you alive. P– Phil was… bringing me back to life through the use of totems.”

Alivebur flopped back against the furnaces, looking unimpressed. “Your hesitance suggests that was against your will.”

“It was.” Ghostbur sighed. “I don’t want to be brought back because everyone will hate me… They like me dead, if I’m back… no one will speak to me again.”

“You could pretend not to remember.”

“Yeah, I could, but I doubt they would believe me. I’m already lying…”

Alivebur hummed, tapping his foot off the ground. “Okay… So, you think this could be because of your resurrection, so… could it mean you only get to live if _I_ live?”

Ghostbur tilted his head. It was a fair punt. “Like… time travel? If you live past the day I die, then I won’t exist, and _you’ll_ exist.”

“Yeah.”

But… “I don’t want to die…”

Alivebur shrugged. “Then I can die the same way, and we’ll stick it to Phil, ay?”

Ghostbur pushed himself up, pacing up a little up the Prime path. “He spent a lot of time getting those totems. There was _so_ many of them.” He folded his arms, leaning against the wall. “Would it be cruel to just… If this is real, we could change it _all_.” He swivelled around. “We can fix it. L’Manberg doesn’t have to be a crater, we don’t have to listen to Techno.”

Alivebur stared for a moment, lips thinned. “What… what is it like, in your future? L’Manberg.”

“Schlatt died during the war, so his tyranny came to an end, and it became L’Manberg once again. Everyone began rebuilding, immediately. They built in the crater, building it up on stilts so that TNT couldn’t be placed underneath without their knowledge. It’s nice, made of spruce wood, a bit of cobble here and there. I built a lot of it too. The crane and the sewers – which are my home – the music and balloon stands. Oh! Tubbo rebuilt the Camarvan.” Ghostbur sighed. “It’s beautiful. There’s plenty of houses as well. For the first time, people actually built houses and live there.”

Alivebur smiled slightly. “It sounds nice. Who’s in charge? Tommy?”

“No, Tubbo. Tommy’s exiled because Dream wanted him gone, and Tubbo wanted to avoid another war, and get the obsidian walls taken down.”

“He _what_?” And suddenly Alivebur was standing, fists clenched at his sides. “Tubbo exiled Tommy on Dream’s _order_?”

“Uhh…” Ghostbur could remember standing to the side-lines, hearing Tubbo laugh as he exiled Tommy, watching as Dream forced him to go… following them. “Yes, he did.”

Alivebur’s eyes went wide and he turned away, his coat flapping like a cape behind him. “So, Tubbo exiled Tommy… to avoid war? I mean… I can understand avoiding a war, but following Dream’s wants…? That’s not the L’Manbergian way…” He covered his mouth. “Is it?”

“Of course it’s not, it never has been.”

“Then…” Alivebur tossed a glance over his shoulder, dropping his hand, “how is Tubbo fairing, if Tommy’s not there?”

“He…” Ghostbur shook his head. “You don’t want to hear this.”

Alivebur turned around slowly, jaw clenching, eyes dark. This is what Ghostbur remembered most of him, the man who had nothing to lose, who was willing to kill and be evil, to wear a smile while darkness consumed him. “I do. Tell me.”

Ghostbur’s shoulders slumped. “Okay. Tubbo misses Tommy but he’s… alright, I think, though, he isn’t making the best decisions for L’Manberg’s ideals. They put up wanted posters of Techno, asking for him alive or _dead_. One day, they forced him to go to L’Manberg for a trial. The Butcher Army, consisting of Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity, and Ranboo, locked Techno in a cage, right in the middle of L’Manberg. The trial was a ruse, they had lured him into his own execution, and they dropped an anvil on him. Luckily, he had a totem and managed to escape.”

“They… but a cage… publicly executing… And Tubbo signed off on that?”

“Yes.”

“But he just–” Alivebur’s eyes drifted, towards the pit, perhaps. “But…”

“They also put Phil on house arrest because he wouldn’t give up Techno’s location.”

“But…” Alivebur stepped forward, shaking his head over and over. “So it became… tyranny?”

“I think so. They became what they hated.”

“So… you were justified in blowing it up?”

Ghostbur sighed once again, shrugging. “I think destroying it only created something so much worse. Schlatt may have been a bad leader, exiling me and Tommy, and executing Tubbo publicly, but in turn, Tubbo’s doing the same things. There’s no freedom left, there hasn’t been since…”

“Since the peace time before the elections,” Alivebur finished. “Fuck.” He stroked his fingers over his mouth. “It sounds like blowing it up is a bad idea…”

“If you let Techno set off those withers… I think that was the push towards tyranny, truly. Dream is a force no one can control, and defiance never ends well, so I can excuse that, but… what they did to Techno was purely revenge in the name of our great nation.”

Alivebur folded his arms. “But it’s not our great nation if it has done what you said. Maybe blowing it up… to avoid… I…” He sniffed, shaking his head. “How is Fundy, in your time?”

Ghostbur cocked his head. “I’m surprised you would even ask that question.”

“He’s…” Alivebur pulled his coat closer to his body, “he’s still my son.”

“He’s alright. He misses me being alive sometimes, but mostly prefers me dead. For the longest time I could give him no answers, due to my memories, but now I don’t want to hurt him by telling him I remember.” Ghostbur pinched the bridge of his nose. “I wish I could be a better dad for him.”

“And what is he doing, where is he?”

“He was part of L’Manberg’s cabinet for a time, but has since moved on to a new place. I don’t know where that is but… he still supports Tubbo’s endeavours, so I see him around.” Ghostbur shrugged. “He seems happy.”

Alivebur nodded. “Okay, good… that’s… good.”

“You love him,” Ghostbur pointed out. He remembered that, despite the betrayal, despite hating him, he still…

“I care about him.” Alivebur sighed. “Maybe I still love him, yeah.”

“He didn’t betray you.”

Alivebur looked to him quickly, eyes slightly wide. “What?”

Ghostbur moved towards him, chin lifted. “He lied to get close to Schlatt. He knows things about him, please… please, don’t shut him out.”

“But– He– He disowned me?”

“To get close to Schlatt, only that.”

Alivebur sucked in a breath, shaking his head, almost like he could hardly believe it. “But it’s been so _long_ , why wouldn’t he tell me?”

Ghostbur took a step closer, little space was between them now. If he could convince Alivebur of this, perhaps there was a way to save himself. “Maybe because of what happened to Tubbo? He’s protecting himself.”

Alivebur opened and closed his mouth several times. “I… He… he always was my clever little boy.” He bit at his quivering lip. “I have to go see him. I need to know if you’re right.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s worth keeping L’Manberg whole for. I promised him this world, maybe I could give it to him.”

Ghostbur grabbed his arm, staring him in the eyes. “Hey, Alivebur… what’s the date?”

Alivebur stared down at Ghostbur’s hand. “W– What did you just call me?”

“Alivebur. It’s what I call you, because you’re Alive Wilbur, and I’m Ghostbur, Ghost Wilbur!” He smiled, though, there was nothing happy about it.

“Oh…” Alivebur straightened up a little, tilting his head to the side. “It’s the 2nd of November, why?”

Ghostbur leant back a bit, they could work with that. “We have two weeks until the day you die.”

“Ah, that’s… okay. Right then. The 16th, right?”

“Yeah, the 16th.”

Alivebur huffed a breath. “Suiting. The same day as the festival.” He drifted towards the stairs. “Okay… Let’s go to Manberg.”

Ghostbur followed him. “I’ll make sure not to show myself in front of Fundy. I’ll hide.”

“Good.” Alivebur began walking up the stairs. “Let’s go.”

\--

“There he is…” Alivebur said wistfully.

They were up on Eret’s tower, staring at L’Manberg. Fundy was sitting at the lake, in front of the Camarvan, eyes set on the water. Strangely, he looked so much lighter. Like a lot of the burdens hadn’t happened yet. Ghostbur supposed the rebellion left scars on everyone, and that’s why this Fundy looked… calmer.

“Shall we then?” Ghostbur asked, hopping off the edge.

Alivebur followed, slow in his steps. “What should I say to him?”

“Just be yourself, he won’t expect anything less.”

Alivebur hummed in response.

They headed on down, and as they neared, Fundy glanced up. His eyes widened, but they didn’t land on Ghostbur. He exchanged a glanced with Alivebur, who seemed to be just as puzzled.

“I want to test something, okay?” Ghostbur said. “Do you trust me?”

Alivebur shrugged, glancing back to Fundy. “I don’t think I could stop you.”

Fundy tracked Alivebur’s every moment, right up until he stopped beside him. Even though Ghostbur was right there, to Alivebur’s left, Fundy hadn’t even glanced in his direction, hadn’t taken any notice of him. Which confirmed something, definitely.

Only Alivebur could see him.

Or at the very least, Fundy couldn’t.

“He can’t see me, that’s never happened before, everyone can see me.” he whispered, and Alivebur nodded slightly.

“Hello, Fundy,” Alivebur said, sitting beside him. Ghostbur sat by the lake as well, just to keep an eye on things, especially since Fundy couldn’t see him. Which had to prove something, didn’t it? This was real…

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“It’s not like anyone is here to stop me.”

Fundy huffed, glancing to him. “ _Why_ are you here?”

Alivebur pursed his lips, shrugging nonchalantly. “Can’t a father see his son?”

Fundy turned back to the water. “I disowned you.”

Alivebur flinched, a whole body shudder followed.

“It’s okay,” Ghostbur cut in. He remembered how much Alivebur hated Fundy, but it was because of his sadness about the whole matter. It was easier to push that into anger rather than total sorrow. “It’s an act, I swear, just tell him you know.”

“I…” Alivebur murmured. “I know it’s an act, Fundy.”

Fundy whipped around to face him, so quick that Ghostbur was sure his head would have fallen off if it weren’t screwed on. “W– What? I… don’t know what you mean.”

“I know you can’t _say_ , after all, look what happened to Tubbo. But I…” Ghostbur could see the pain and distrust in Alivebur’s eyes, but there was something else there… a warmth. “I trust you.”

Fundy blew out a breath. “You’re… right.” He bumped Alivebur’s shoulder. “I’m doing it for all of us.”

Alivebur nodded. “Then… good.” He stood. “I should… get out of here but… I… I love you, my son.”

Fundy glanced up at him, eyes bright yet tinged with sadness. “I… Thanks, Dad.”

With a nod, Alivebur turned. He paused, and Fundy stared, and then he was walking away, and Ghostbur jumped up to follow. Alivebur hurried along the path, walking with a pace unmatched, wiping his eyes. Oh… he was upset.

“Are you okay?” Ghostbur asked in a whisper.

“I didn’t think he was still in there, Ghostbur… I thought the son I knew was gone.” He chuckled softly, rubbing his eyes now, before dropping his hands. “But he’s still there.”

“You know, when I didn’t remember, my last memory of him was the elections.”

“R– Really?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I was so proud of him.”

“Yeah,” Alivebur said, blankly. “I was.”

“We did it to ourselves,” Ghostbur murmured, tugging on the hem of his sleeve. “All of it, we did it to ourselves.”

“Well… yes, but Fundy did still… disown me when I was _right_ there.”

Ghostbur hummed. “Yeah, he did.”

Alivebur sighed. “What now? Isn’t it easy for me to avoid death? I simply don’t ask Phil to kill me.”

“I think making amends and convincing people you aren’t going to blow up L’Manberg would work first.”

“I… I’m not decided on that yet. I could still do it.”

Ghostbur huffed. Why did he think it would be that easy to save himself? He was a lost soul, trying to scramble for control of his nation that had been twisted into something else. He remembered how that felt. After all, once he was sold on an idea, it was hard to change that path. “You’ll be truly hated if you do it, I know you don’t want that.”

Alivebur held his head up high as they climbed over the fence border. “You’re me, Ghostbur. You know how I feel about L’Manberg. I want to keep it whole, of course I do, but maybe it’s worth blowing it up anyway, just maybe… differently to how you did it.”

Ghostbur twisted his lips, eyes darting around as they walked. The cost of making this happen was high… the totems, Dream… if this was real, he had to try for his dad. “I’m not wasting Phil’s hard work, Alivebur. I think he made a deal with Dream for this, I’m not going to rest until you never think of pressing that button.”

“I–”

“Do you really want our nation to become what it has in my time?”

“I…” Alivebur sniffed, staying silent.

“Do you really think it’s that far gone, or are you simply too scared of losing in the eyes of Schlatt?”

Alivebur folded his arms.

Ghostbur scoffed with an amused breath. He was getting to him. “If you’re seen as the bad guy, if you have nothing to lose, if you give it up to feel comfortable and safe, you can do what you want. But at every turn you hesitate. _I_ hesitated on the day I blew it up. Look me in the eye and tell me you’d lose if you brought everyone to your side.”

Alivebur stopped still, tensing. Ghostbur turned to him, tilting his head as he stared him in the eye. They were halfway to Pogtopia now, in fact, it was just over the hill, but here they were, standing on the other side of the lake, staring at each other.

“You think we can win by killing Schlatt? That’s how we lose… We’ll be taking back something that isn’t ours,” Alivebur said.

“And there it is…” Ghostbur said with a smile. “Your true fear.”

Alivebur glanced away.

“You’re afraid that losing the election wiped away everything you worked for. You’re _afraid_ that L’Manberg will never be yours even if you take down Schlatt, because ultimately, you’re _scared_ of people not listening to you and what that would mean for the nation.”

“I hate that you’re me,” Alivebur gritted out. “I hate that you know.”

Ghostbur smiled sadly. “You hate that I can tell you what you’re thinking and be right.”

Alivebur pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing at his eyes. “No one else sees what I do. The second I started the whole election ordeal, I doomed the nation. It was built on freedom, that idea alone, and it’s already been twisted into anything but that… And from the sounds of it, that doesn’t change in your time. So what’s the _point_ of not blowing it up?”

He had a point, Ghostbur remembered the conflict inside Alivebur. The tear between loving his nation so much that he had to destroy it to save it and preserve its ideals, and wanting to keep it whole, keep it to himself, to ensure that it could never be twisted into something tyrannical ever again.

But… this Alivebur hadn’t experienced the meeting yet. That day was hazy in his memory but… but that was the final straw, the first button press. A failed attempt, but it happened, nonetheless.

“Because you could be in charge again and keep it from becoming what we created it to escape from, you _fool_.” Ghostbur threw his arms up, an anger pulled at his dead heart. “For fuck’s sake, on the day we reclaimed it, I made Tommy president, only for him to step down and make _me_ president! I was too far along the road of blowing it up to turn back, I had listened to Techno and decided government wasn’t the way to go, but you… you can change that.” He stepped closer, hands reaching out but not touching. “Just _think_ about it, okay? The future can be bright.”

Alivebur huffed. “Maybe, but I can’t see the people ever accepting me as president again. I let them down.” He pushed past Ghostbur, climbing over the hill.

Ghostbur followed him, he wasn’t about to give up. “You didn’t let them down.”

“I didn’t even secure our independence. Tommy did. I started an election that I planned to rig. _I’m_ the bad guy.”

“You’ll only be the bad guy when you press that button, and you know it.”

Alivebur groaned, very nearly growled, as he mined the dirt that hid Pogtopia. “Don’t test me, Ghostbur.”

“I’m not testing you, I’m trying to reason with you.” He scoffed, shaking his head. “You’re me. I know where you’re at, you’re not too far along this path yet.”

“Just… leave me alone for a bit, will you? I need… to think of the present, not the future.” Alivebur headed on down the stairs. His tone had been sharp, piercing, and Ghostbur knew fine well what that meant.

Alivebur was done for the day.

To be fair, it had been a long day, with a lot of new information. Ghostbur hadn’t saved himself yet, but there was hope. Alivebur had considered not blowing it up, and really, that was the only step he needed him to take today. They had two weeks, there was _time_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be updated weekly :D!!


	2. From One Traitor To Another

While Alivebur rested, Ghostbur strolled through lands. Now he was truly invisible to everyone, he could go unnoticed. It was strange to see it so empty. So much new had come to these lands since the war ended. So much creativity, so many more buildings and houses. Ghostbur hadn’t appreciated it all enough, how everything had changed, become better, but now he missed it. The emptiness was too bizarre.

He came across Tommy’s house. It hadn’t been redone yet, hadn’t been turned to granite, to dirt. The smooth stone was present, and it was undoubtedly still Tommy’s. He peered inside, and there he was, with Tubbo sitting in the corner by the stairs. They both seemed bored, especially Tubbo who was just staring at the floor while Tommy fiddled in his chests.

Ghostbur sighed. Oh… these poor innocent boys. They were so young here. Sure, Tommy was breaking exile, because Schlatt had once said he couldn’t come here, but when did Tommy ever listen to the rules of a tyrant? At least… at this point anyway.

And Tubbo was yet to be weighed down by the title of President. He was yet to betray his best friend. He was still a boy who knew what freedom was, who knew how to spot corruption.

Sure, they had scars. Tubbo had been executed at the festival. Tommy had watched him die, and had fought Techno in a pit. They both knew what Alivebur could do at any time, and were powerless to stop him. They weren’t entirely the innocent boys that had once run free in L’Manberg – before the war – but they hadn’t been marred yet by the atrocities that had occurred in Ghostbur’s time.

It almost shocked him to see them holding themselves in a lighter way. Too often, Tommy’s shoulders dragged, and Tubbo’s eyes were distant and lonely. But here… here they seemed… almost fine?

“We could just… stop Wilbur, Tommy,” Tubbo spoke up as he traced lines with his fingertips on the floor.

“I already have, with Quackity. As long as this meeting goes well, he won’t blow it up. It _has_ to go well.”

Ghostbur huffed. It was a shame Schlatt, as senile as he was, knew fine well the permit was a ruse.

“And if it doesn’t?”

Tommy sighed, dumping some materials onto a crafting table. “Look, we have to stick by Wilbur, okay? He’s gotten us this far, we have to put some trust in him.”

Tubbo sighed. “Yeah, but what if he does it anyway, what then?”

“I don’t know… But I’m not giving up on him, not yet.”

“He’s not who he used to be, Tommy.”

Tommy shrugged. “I’m his right hand man, Tubbo. He has to put his trust in someone, and I want that to be me. I can keep him from doing it, okay?”

Tubbo stood, nodding. He approached Tommy and smiled slightly. “Okay.”

Ghostbur stepped back, and kept stepping back until he was on the main path again. He swivelled around and walked towards L’Manberg, curling his arms around himself.

Tommy had that much faith in him? Well, yeah, he supposed he did. Because even when Alivebur kept telling him, kept saying he was going to blow it up, that it was the plan, Tommy still had hope it wouldn’t happen. When Alivebur wanted to blow it up because it would only effect Schlatt, Tommy said he was right, but not completely, vying for the war. He’d never… thought that anyone still cared about him that much.

 _Fuck_.

His self-hatred had gotten to him so much that he… he’d never thought Tommy would…

Alivebur really had thrown all that trust away for his ideals. It had always been about L’Manberg over anyone else, but it had been both for the longest time. All the hesitance hadn’t been for nothing, he had cared about his friends but… but his ideals won out. Protecting and saving L’Manberg from itself and other forms of government had won.

Maybe if he had truly listened to Tommy, he wouldn’t be here now trying to save himself.

By the time he made it back to Pogtopia, he found Alivebur sitting on the bed by the door, holding a potato in his hand. It was almost morning now, and Ghostbur distinctly remembered that, while alive, he could barely sleep, and what little sleep he did get didn’t last very long. He was always the first one up.

“How are you?” Ghostbur asked, placing the dirt back down.

Alivebur stared at him blankly for a moment. “I almost forgot this was real.”

Ghostbur hummed, sitting on the bed beside him. “Did you sleep much?”

“No. But I suppose you must know that.”

“Yeah.”

Alivebur popped a bit of the potato into his mouth, relaxing back against the dirt walls. “What did you get up to?”

“I explored the SMP lands. It’s so empty compared to my time, but I suppose that’s because there’s less people.” Ghostbur tilted his head, looking at the chests that were barely anything more than a dumping ground, rather than for anything useful. “I saw Tommy at his house. He said some things that… made me– It reminded me that I made up people hating me.”

“People do hate me.”

Ghostbur shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, not yet.” He glanced to Alivebur. “Tommy doesn’t want to give up on you, I think that matters.”

Alivebur chucked the rest of the potato into his mouth, staying silent.

“You can’t avoid the fact that despite you wanting everyone to be equals here, Tommy still looks to you for leadership. Most of them do, really.”

Alivebur stood up, shaking his head. “I’m no leader. Not anymore.”

“You _were_ their leader, for a long time. That still means something.”

“I’m a man who wants to destroy what he created, it means nothing.” He turned, there was a glint in his eye that Ghostbur knew all too well. “You have a perspective I can never have, how am I supposed to see what you do?”

Ghostbur stood, grasping Alivebur’s arm. “You don’t have to, just… don’t blow it up. It might look better when they build it back up, but… what rose from the ashes was nothing good. Trust me.”

“I do believe that, you know? That it became worse but I… Maybe it’s inevitable.”

“It’s not. I can’t believe that because if I do then… all the bloodshed was for nothing. Everything we fought for and lost was all _for nothing_ , and we both know that isn’t true.” Ghostbur stared Alivebur right in the eye, grabbing both his arms now. “Just… you should talk to Tommy, and to Techno and… and… Please.”

Alivebur pulled his arms away, pacing towards the stairs. “I’ll think about it. But… but I can’t promise anything.”

“I will prove the truth to you,” Ghostbur said, with an air of happiness. “You’re what L’Manberg needs. I’m the only one in my time that remembers the ideals of our nation, but you still have a Tommy and a Tubbo who will listen and learn. It’s _not_ too far gone.”

“Then… tell me one thing,” Alivebur whispered, hand on the wall by the stairs, tossing a look over his shoulder. “Is Eret truthful in wanting to help us?”

Ghostbur couldn’t help the way his dead heart squeezed. Eret… That name haunted him really. He’d barely seen him as Ghostbur, but when he hardly remembered, all he had to go off was the song and that… formed an opinion. Now though? He remembered how Eret came to their aid in the war, and he didn’t betray them then. “From what I know and remember? Yes.”

Alivebur nodded. “Okay.” He turned away from the stairs. “Then I think I should talk to him first.”

Ghostbur raised his eyebrows. “Eret first? Why?”

“Because he’s the only one who understands what it’s like to betray our nation.”

“Alright, well, this will be interesting.”

Alivebur scoffed a laugh. “Yeah, I think it will be.”

Ghostbur watched as Alivebur mined the dirt, and there was something to him… Something… he couldn’t place. Maybe it was the genuine smile he had to his lips as he gestured for Ghostbur to follow. Or maybe it was the way he moved with a lightness to his feet.

Oh.

Oh, yes, he understood. Everything came back to it in the end, _everything_. The paranoia, the fear of no one listening, the fear of losing control, the want to destroy it.

It all came back to Eret’s betrayal.

\--

“Eret,” Alivebur said, hands cupped behind his back. “Can I request a meeting with you?”

Eret stopped still, handing something off to a villager before waving them away. He stared for a moment, adjusting his glasses. His lips parted slowly. “God, Wilbur, what happened to you?”

Alivebur glanced down at himself. “What do you mean?”

“Your shirt has blood on it.” Eret gestured vaguely. “And you’re… I haven’t seen bags under your eyes like that since the war.”

Alivebur huffed a laugh, glancing away. “Things have been rough, I have to admit.”

Eret hummed. “Come on, you can use my bath, and then we can talk.”

“I’m not taking your charity.” He looked to him, jaw slightly clenched. “That’s not why I came here.”

“I’m not letting you go on like this, Wilbur. You need to look after yourself. I’ll get you a clean shirt too.”

Alivebur glanced over his shoulder, eyesight locking with Ghostbur’s. Why…? Was he really asking for his advice? Well, he did suppose a voice from the future could help here. For all Alivebur knew, Eret could have been setting up a plan to kill him in the bath.

“Trust him,” Ghostbur said calmly. “He wants to redeem himself. Let him try. You can still denounce him if you want, but just… give him a chance.”

Alivebur sighed and looked back to Eret. “I do need a bath, I think.”

Eret chuckled. “It seems like it’s been a long time.” He extended his arm to him, a welcoming gesture. “Come on, follow me.”

Alivebur nodded and followed, head bowed as they walked. Eret filled the silence, talking about his pink sheep, but going no further than that. He always knew boundaries, knew them well. Ghostbur was well aware of the respect he had for everyone, even though he was a… traitor. But still, it seemed as if Eret knew the pain he had caused, and tended to steer clear of it.

“Here’s the room,” Eret said, pushing a door open.

It was simple. The bath was a quartz box with some water flowing into it. There was a fire nearby, likely to keep it heated at all times. Ghostbur didn’t dare think about how old the water was, or how it was drained. He merely pushed it to the back of his mind.

“I’ll go get you a shirt. Make yourself at home.” Eret left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Ghostbur hummed. Courteous. But then, Eret had always been the one in L’Manberg with the most manners. He didn’t know how much he had changed since those days, and he had never interacted with him much after the betrayal, but from what he had seen so far, the Eret he used to know never went away…

He just simply betrayed them all. That was it, or so it appeared.

“Are you going to stay?” Alivebur asked, shrugging off his coat.

Ghostbur tilted his head. “I don’t see why not. You’re me, I’m you, it’s not like it will be embarrassing to see you bathe.”

“Hm, I’ll give you that.” He tore off his bloody shirt, and Ghostbur had… almost forgotten. When he was alive, he hadn’t taken off his clothes, never washed, simply going about his days in his dirt, and then he had woke up as a ghost with a thick yellow jumper on. He hadn’t seen his skin since… he changed out of his revolutionary outfit. “What?”

Ghostbur blinked, glancing up. Oh. He hadn’t realised that Alivebur had turned around. His eyes were tracing Ghostbur’s face, slightly narrowed. “Nothing.”

Alivebur took a step closer. “No, what is it?”

“I… forgot about the…” He gestured vaguely, “the scars.”

The scars that lined Alivebur’s back and stomach. From the Final Control Room, from the time he got shot to death by Punz. His meaningful deaths showed all that he had been through. The slashes of a sword, the circular wounds from lodged arrows.

Alivebur glanced down, hands going to his stomach. His shoulders curled in, like he was protecting himself. Oh, he hadn’t meant to make him feel… self-conscious? “I… forgot about them too.” _Oh_. Oh, that made sense. “Do you still have them?”

Ghostbur twisted his lips, curling his hand around the hem of his jumper. He closed his eyes and yanked it up. “Yay, or nay?”

A sigh. “Yay.”

Ghostbur dropped the jumper, and it flopped back into place. “Do I have a slash and a stab at my heart?”

Alivebur nodded. “Yeah, you do. Phil’s work?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.” Alivebur tossed his bloody shirt aside, shucking out of his trousers and pants. Silence filled the room as he settled in the bath, relaxing back against the quartz. His eyes slipped shut, and he looked… more at peace than ever. “I’m going to pretend I don’t see them.”

Ghostbur huffed a soft laugh, sitting on the edge of the bath. “I’m going to pretend the same.”

“I hate that they stay.”

“Me too. It’s weird, though, isn’t it? That Techno, for example, as war-torn as he is, doesn’t have any scars yet, while we do, and Tubbo… and Tommy… and Fundy, my poor boy.”

Alivebur sighed, shifting in the bath slightly. “Tubbo’s scar… on his face… I feel… like shit about that.”

Ghostbur picked at the edge of the quartz. “You didn’t do it.”

“I put him in that position.”

“Techno pulled the trigger.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t try to tell him what to do, I just _let_ him.”

Ghostbur huffed. “It’s not your fault. Besides, I thought we forgave Techno.”

Alivebur cracked open an eye. “I don’t forgive what he has left Tubbo with. I forgive why he had to do it.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Why do you seem like you don’t know that?”

Ghostbur shrugged. “The festival is a bit more spotty than other memories and it’s… been a long time. Not as fresh.”

Alivebur hummed in reply, closing his eyes again.

“So, what do you think of Eret?” Ghostbur asked, genuinely curious.

“Eret is… being strangely kind. I don’t trust that, how can he be kind?”

“Because he wants to redeem himself. That’s why he tried to help you when you got exiled, why he sent those potatoes too.”

“But surely it’s just a ploy to betray us again?”

“Nope.”

Alivebur sighed. “I guess I’ll find out.”

“Guess you will.” Ghostbur picked up the magma cream that was sitting at the corner of the bath, in a flowerpot. He threw it at Alivebur, who jolted and fumbled to grasp it, water going everywhere. “Now wash up,” he said with a chuckle. “You can’t just sit in your muck.”

Alivebur huffed, dipping the magma cream into the water. “You’re starting to sound like mum.”

“We could never sound like mum.”

Alivebur hummed and began cleaning himself properly now. The dirt was scrubbed from his skin, and his scars could finally get some better treatment. Ghostbur sighed and glanced away, eyeing a painting at the other side of the room. His… poor, poor alive self. He was suffering, a lot, too much.

Death had freed him, but it never should have come to that. And it had been no way out of life, because he was still here, but as a ghost.

After a while – not that Ghostbur had been counting the minutes – a knock rattled against the door.

“I have a new shirt for you, shall I’ll leave it by the door?” Eret said, his voice sounding calm, almost sad.

“Yeah…! I’ll be out in a moment,” Alivebur called.

“Alright, I’ll be in the throne room.”

“Well,” Alivebur sat up fully against the quartz, “that’s the end of that.”

Ghostbur hummed, hopping off the block he’d been sitting on. “A bath can’t last forever.”

“Unfortunately.” He got up and dried himself, quickly dressing. He looped his coat over his arm, and opened the door, swiftly pulling on his shirt before shrugging his coat back on. “You’re sure this isn’t a trick?” he asked, slipping a hand into his pocket.

“Eret wouldn’t do that, he’s not the person who betrayed you. I promise.”

With a nod, Alivebur strode down the corridor, towards the throne room. Eret was sitting on his throne, one leg perched up on it, hugged to his chest. He looked relaxed, like this was his true calling, like he was comfortable here. And Ghostbur supposed he was. He only had the crown taken off him when he chose to be on Pogtopia’s side, but was given it back just as quickly as it had been taken away.

He’d been in this position of power for a long time. A _long_ time.

Alivebur placed down a chair, slipping into it. He crossed one leg over the other, tilting his head to the side. “So this is what betrayal gets you?”

Eret gently laughed. “Yes, you _have_ never visited, have you?”

“If it was beneficial to me, I would stay far from this place.”

“So, what brings you here?”

Alivebur twisted his lips, rubbing his fingers together as a distraction. Ghostbur knew that well. “You want to redeem yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Eret blinked, glancing away. Like he was staring out of a window. Maybe he was. “I can help you. I want to help you. When I betrayed you, it was to end the revolution, not our friendship.”

Alivebur barked a laugh. “Are you that naïve? I know for a fact that Tommy has nightmares about it. Tubbo has never looked at Sapnap in the same way. Fundy… has… well, you hurt my boy. And I… I have never trusted anyone the same again.” He blinked harshly and Ghostbur thinned his lips, hanging his head. Maybe this was too much too soon. “Our friendship can never recover, but if you truly want to redeem yourself, if you truly want to be on our side again, then I am willing to listen, as long as you don’t pretend your betrayal didn’t scar us all.”

Eret scratched at his temple. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t know.”

Alivebur scoffed. “Okay, sure.”

Ghostbur had to admit, it was truly amazing how Alivebur’s mood could sour so easily. That lightness he had seen in Pogtopia was gone. What Eret had said, it had hurt him, and how could it not really…

“I didn’t, Wilbur. I didn’t think… I suppose it was naïve to imagine that what I did would have left you all without scars.”

Alivebur nodded. He seemed to be content with that. “So you want to help?”

“Yes.”

“Then… tell me what it was like to betray us.”

Eret stilled. “What?”

“Right now, L’Manberg is rigged with TNT–”

“What?!”

“–that was planted by me.”

Eret leant forward now, elbows on his thighs. “You’re going to blow it up? Why?”

Alivebur relaxed back in his seat. But his expression betrayed him. Ghostbur knew his true feelings, regardless of how he wanted to come off as cocky and dark. “It’s not what I built it for anymore. Freedom has been twisted into expansion and oppression. A citizen was executed at a festival. The walls are gone, so are the trees we grew, the Elton John House…” His eyes filled with… sorrow… and there it was. What Alivebur really missed. “It’s not that special place we built anymore, Eret. It’s not.”

“But it’s there. If you destroy it with TNT, you erase its history.”

“No, I’d be saving it from becoming what we built it to escape from.”

“Would you?” Eret asked, head slightly tilted. “Are you sure they wouldn’t simply… rebuild it?”

Alivebur glanced away, resting his head in his hand. “I have to believe it would work.”

“Why? Believe me, Wilbur, when I took you all to the Final Control Room, I thought that was it. You all had nothing, you were defenceless, and even when Dream set off all that TNT, you all didn’t give up.”

“No…” Alivebur said slowly, glancing to Eret. “I went to Dream with Tommy to negotiate a surrender, to save my people. I couldn’t let us keep fighting for independence, it was only going to get us killed…” Eret sat back, something about his posture showed his shock more than his face did. “It was Tommy that didn’t give up, he got us everything we had.”

Eret hummed. “Then, doesn’t that say something? Tommy would never let L’Manberg be a smoking crater. He’d build it back up.”

Alivebur didn’t say anything for a long while, simply staring at the ground. Ghostbur inched closer to him, gently placing his hand at his shoulder. And Alivebur sighed, looking back to Eret. “What did you feel when you betrayed us?”

“Honestly? I was happy. I got what I wanted out of it.” Eret leant forward again. “But now? All I feel is regret. This crown weighs heavy on my head, and I have to stay neutral when I want to be anything but.”

“All I feel is regret,” Ghostbur murmured, pondering Eret’s words. “Huh.” He glanced to the ceiling, narrowing his eyes. “I suppose I’ve felt that, when I got my memories back. But mostly… I feel sadness. Blowing up L’Manberg was a relief, but it brought no comfort, and seeing it turn into what it should never be, hurts.”

Alivebur tapped his fingers off the side of his chair. “You’re saying I’ll regret it?”

“I’m saying that you’re not the kind of man who would blow up his life’s work to ‘save’ it, Wilbur.”

“I am, though. I’ve changed in exile.”

“Or adapted. But the second you get a feel for L’Manberg again, can you really say you’d want to do it?”

“Unfortunately?” Ghostbur whispered. “Yes.”

“I could.”

Eret shrugged, sitting back again. “Then why are you here? You come asking for the advice of a traitor, only to confirm you would do it regardless.”

Alivebur groaned, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I just… When we do take it back…” He looked to Eret, “more blood will be shed, and L’Manberg will never know peace. The walls are _gone_ , what would stop Dream from taking everything from us the _second_ he sees a way to tear it all apart?”

“Nothing, I suppose. But you could always find another way, Wilbur. At the end of the day, you’re not a fighter. You founded L’Manberg on the principle of fighting with words, not weapons. That matters to Dream, I think. As long as L’Manberg is a peaceful nation, he would have no reason to attack other than to conquer.”

Ghostbur thinned his lips. This was coming from a person who knew Dream’s intentions better than most. He paced towards Eret, tapping his thumb off his chin. “But then there’s Tommy…” He turned, looking to Alivebur. “It can never be a government again. If any of L’Manberg’s citizens do something destructive, it could be branded as an attack by the nation…”

Alivebur nodded slowly, maybe he was finally listening. “Thank you, Eret.” He stood, taking his chair with him. “Your words have been… invaluable.”

Eret stood as well, his cloak falling into place behind him. “I can only hope that you convince yourself that this is not the way. Being a traitor is one thing, Wilbur, but destroying L’Manberg is another. The nation means a lot to everyone, it cannot be killed as easily as you may think.”

With a nod, Alivebur strode out of the throne room. Eret let out a deep sigh, cupping his hands behind his back. Ghostbur watched for a moment, noting the way Eret was holding himself… He suspected that Alivebur was a loose cannon that could go off at any second. And he wasn’t wrong. All it would take was one more push.

And that push was coming.

The Meeting was in a few days…

With a roll of his shoulders, Ghostbur ran after Alivebur. He had to prepare.

\--

“I forgot how annoying he could be,” Ghostbur said, sitting on the edge of the building, staring at Schlatt, at Quackity.

Alivebur chuckled from behind him. “Did you really forget that much about him?”

“I knew _nothing_ , at first.” He shrugged, tossing a look over his shoulder, eyeing the invisibility arrow Alivebur was playing with. He still wondered why Ponk did that. “I suppose you know how this goes?”

“Something stops me from blowing it up, yeah.”

Ghostbur smiled, looking back to Schlatt. In a few moments he was about to reveal all. “Yeah, but not what you’d expect.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re about to find out.”

Alivebur came up beside him, slipping a hand into his pocket. “He’s teasing Quackity.”

Ghostbur hummed. “Yeah.”

Alivebur chuckled slightly. “He knows, he must know.”

“I noticed something funny,” Schlatt said. And Ghostbur shut himself up. It was happening. He stood, eyes on Alivebur. “There was a hole under the, you know the cry about it monument? Below us? There was a hole under it, and, Quackity, I found something.”

“Wait,” Alivebur said, hand reaching behind his neck, mouth agape. “No…”

“Explosives. I think there was some explosives under the, under the monument I built. To this great nation.”

“Where’s Tommy?” Alivebur whispered, looking off to the side. “Where’s Tommy? Is that Tommy?”

“I don’t know what that’s about, I don’t know what that’s about,” Quackity rambled.

“Explosives.” God, Schlatt sounded so weak and tired. If they had just waited… he would have died on his own, and none of everything would have had to happen. “And it’s funny that I find these things and it’s–”

Ghostbur sighed and zoned out. He didn’t need to hear this again. Quackity’s frightened shouting, Schlatt thinking he had the upper hand…

He rolled his shoulders and snuck away. Alivebur was too busy preparing to shoot Quackity with the arrow to notice. Besides, it didn’t matter, Ghostbur knew exactly where he was going in a few minutes time.

He headed over the hill as the memories of tonight hit him with full force. The running. The way he turned back as Schlatt ran past him while he hid in a tree. All the things that hadn’t happened yet were about to. _The button_.

God.

He really did it.

And if he wasn’t there for Alivebur _now_ , there would be nothing to save him from this final straw. This was the moment he had decided that it all had to die. If the meeting had worked, however, things would be different. Quackity would have been President and well… Ghostbur never would have had to exist.

Carefully, he mined the stone and covered it back up behind him. For today, he’d made sure to have stone on him. He didn’t want Alivebur thinking he’d tampered with anything.

He approached the room slowly, dragging his hand along the wall. Seeing it complete like this… It was… scary? Maybe that was the wrong word, but he _hated_ this room. In his time, it was half broken, with only some of the anthem left on the walls. The vast majority of it was gone.

But _here_? Here the anthem was complete, the button was right there and… And there was no TNT behind that button. He still had no idea where it had gone. It certainly wasn’t under Pogtopia. Or, well, maybe they just hadn’t found it yet.

Ghostbur backed up against the wall, to the left side of the entrance, and… waited. Sitting there, staring.

After a long everlasting moment, Alivebur came sprinting down the narrow corridor, only to stop still as his eyes set on Ghostbur. He slumped and sighed, moving to sit on his chair.

“Obviously, you know what I’m going to say,” Ghostbur said blankly, rolling his head along the wall.

“Yeah, yeah, I shouldn’t do it.”

“You heard what Schlatt said.”

Alivebur shook his head, staring at the button. “He could be lying. And who knows if he got it all.”

“Mine the wall.”

“What?”

“Just… mine the wall.”

Alivebur pulled out his wooden pick and mined away the wall, mouth agape as more stone was revealed. Schlatt was a clever man, he’d covered his tracks, and taken all the redstone, all the TNT.

“Where the fuck’s the TNT?” he asked, placing cobble down, and the button on top.

Ghostbur shrugged. “Schlatt took it.”

“So it’s under Pogtopia?”

“Presumedly. But we never found it.”

Alivebur went running out of the button room, and Ghostbur followed.

“They can’t press any buttons. Oh god, there’s so many buttons!”

Ghostbur grabbed him by the arm, pulling him to a stop. He stared, sternly. “Do _not_ press any buttons. Not even to tease, definitely not for a laugh. I did that, and they thought I had finally completely lost it. Just, don’t.”

“I… I suppose they do think I’ve lost my marbles, don’t they?” Alivebur sighed as Ghostbur nodded. “Alright. I won’t, but we have to go warn them regardless.”

Ghostbur released him and stepped back, gesturing towards Pogtopia. “Go on. What will be will be.”

With a nod, they both went running again, all the way back to Pogtopia. The buttons that had been placed within the ravine were a coincidence, but it had been a well-timed one, and the prank still lived on even in Ghostbur’s day, when Pogtopia was nothing more than an empty dark shell.

“Don’t press any buttons!” Alivebur screamed as he ran into Pogtopia, where the entrance was wide open, and would never be truly hidden again. “The TNT is gone!” he shouted as he ran down the steps.

“It’s what?!” Tommy shouted. “So it’s here?!”

Alivebur reached the overlooking balcony, leaning on the wall to stare at Quackity and Tommy. “That’s what he said, but who knows if it’s the truth.”

Tommy exhaled deeply, pulling out his axe. “Then we have to take them down.”

Alivebur glanced to Ghostbur.

“We never did that in my time,” he said. “ _But_ , to reassure confidence, it’s probably best. I went around pressing the buttons, and it wasted a lot of time, with them screaming at me.”

With a slight nod, Alivebur glanced back down. He straightened up, slapping his hand down on the wall. “Alright then, let’s take these buttons down. As many as you can reach.”

Tommy immediately got to work, and with a bit of hesitance, Quackity did too.

“I’ll be right back, I need to make an axe!” Alivebur shouted.

“Alright!” Tommy called. “There’s some cobble in the chests!”

“Thanks!”

Once Alivebur had a stone axe, the work really began. Ghostbur sat atop the furnaces, watching them all work. They weren’t talking. A few glances were exchanged, but nothing more. For once, they were united towards one goal, and no words needed to be said. It was so different to what Ghostbur had done, reminding them of Chekhov’s Gun in the enchantment room, and running around placing down buttons as he went to press more.

In his time, he had been doing things for the sake of it. Teasing and taunting, having fun, because he had nothing to lose. He didn’t care if he died. But here… Ghostbur had given Alivebur hope that he was wrong about the people he cared about. That mattered, and it had changed things already.

“Oooh!” Tommy shouted, and Ghostbur turned, peering up the path to see Tommy aiming a bow right in Fundy’s face.

Oh.

Yeah.

“Gentlemen,” Fundy said, calmly.

All of a sudden Quackity was at Tommy’s side, axe held in a tight grip. “Stay the fuck away.”

“Gentlemen, may I take the word for one minute?”

Ghostbur watched as Alivebur crept towards the three of them, hand brushing against the cobble wall of the roofed area. “Fundy…?”

Ghostbur cupped his hands behind his back, stepping beside Alivebur. “He’s got a gift for you. Don’t spit in his face like I did.”

Fundy looked to him, the smallest smile upon his face. “Hi, Dad.”

“Okay, can you stand further away from all the buttons?” Tommy said, pointing with his bow towards the wooden path that led into the tunnels.

“No,” Alivebur said, stern, stepping closer. “Fundy’s good, I trust him.”

Tommy turned, mouth agape as he lowered his bow slightly. “ _What_?”

“He’s on our side. Let’s listen to him.”

“What do you _mean_ he’s on our side, he’s the only one Schlatt’s got left!”

Alivebur grinned. “No, no he isn’t.”

Fundy stood tall, chin lifted. “Gentlemen. I would say, so far, this has been a really fine evening. And… what a fine evening for some good old double crossing, huh?” He steepled his fingers against his mouth before dropping them. “Now, let me just say, I haven’t been completely vocal about my actions, I haven’t spoken to anyone about this, actually. But I must say, there’s no better time to speak than now.” He turned to Alivebur. “Wilbur, I might have something for you that may lighten up the mood a little bit.”

Alivebur took another step closer. “What is it?”

“ _I_ have been documenting, _every single step, every single action!_ That Schlatt has taken ever since he set his foul feet onto that goddamn podium. Now, if you would _mind_ to lend me a word for another minute. You see, I’ve got information that just might help Pogtopia to victory without any major percussions, alright? _Schlatt_ isn’t as powerful as he portrays himself to be.”

Ghostbur grinned. “Indeed he is not.”

“Schlatt is actually the polar goddamn opposite, and _I_ have proof.” Fundy pulled out a book and approached Wilbur, offering it to him. “Wilbur, would you mind reading this for me?”

Alivebur took the book into his hands. “Alright.”

“I will need you to read this from page fifteen and on.”

“Page _fifteen_?” Alivebur raised his eyebrows, skimming through it. “ _Holy_ … _What?_ ”

“What does it say, what does it say, Wilbur?” Quackity asked, inching close to peer into it.

Alivebur got to page fifteen and Ghostbur smiled. This had a chance to work as Fundy probably intended now, not a war but… to wait and grin with glee. “The following is confidential information. If you are caught in possession of this diary, an immediate execution may result by authority… Schlatt has a severe addiction to alcohol and cigarettes to suppress his aching body.” Alivebur smiled. “What, is that from his gains?” As silence greeted him, he continued, “He is unwilling to get it checked due to his pride. If the symptoms progress, he might suffer fatal consequences. Schlatt is incapable of swimming. After further inspection it seems to be a form of muscle atrophy. He uses protein supplements to regain a viable level of strength. He seems to get weaker by the day. Schlatt is surprisingly unaware of the concerns and state of Manberg. He is unaware, of how in reality, he stands alone. Schlatt has no power, his entire stand is a façade. In fact, he is at his weakest point as we speak.”

Quackity slammed his hand against the wall, grinning. “I _fucking_ knew it! Oh my god!” 

Alivebur headed up the stairs to the cobble roof, staring down at them. “So, do you see?” he asked, glancing to Quackity and Tommy. “Fundy was the only person Schlatt had left, and now? Now, he _is_ alone. He has no one on his side, does he?”

“Not as far as I’m aware, no,” Fundy said, his lips twitching upwards. “Schlatt is literally at his weakest point.”

“Look, Fundy, I…” Alivebur grinned, and Ghostbur’s heart soared. In the moment he’d said he despised Fundy, Alivebur was going to change the tides, surely… “Fundy, I _love_ you. You are my son and you just… proved who you are. I trust you, okay?”

Fundy nodded, eyes hopeful. Maybe a little warm too. “Okay.”

“I think you know what to say,” Ghostbur said with a smile, hands still cupped behind his back, standing to Alivebur’s left. “The book told you what you needed to know, and I’m here to tell you, Schlatt dies on the 16th.”

Alivebur turned to Tommy. “Do you not see, Tommy? If we wait, Schlatt will _die_ and we can take back L’Manberg without fighting! We’d be sticking by our values!”

Tommy glanced down, readjusting his grip on his bow. “We fight with our words…”

Alivebur grinned like never before, but it wasn’t distrusting and evil, it was happy and hopeful. “We fight with our words.”

“Yes!” Fundy shouted, raising his fist. “We’re writers, not fighters!”

Alivebur laughed, raising his fist. “Writers, not fighters!”

Quackity stopped still. “Is this what L’Manberg was…? You didn’t… want to fight?” He looked up to Alivebur. “You didn’t start the war?”

Alivebur jumped down, smiling. “L’Manberg was always a peaceful nation. The reason we built the walls was to declare our borders, Eret built them higher and grander for our protection. They burnt our trees, they took our people hostage, _they_ declared war on us as we declared our independence. We were forced to fight for our lives, and we lost them to a betrayal. Tommy lost his to a duel, and he lost his discs.”

Tommy bowed his head, shuffling on the spot.

“We were peaceful, we weren’t tyranny,” he finished.

Quackity scoffed. “But the one party system? You became corrupt.”

Alivebur closed his eyes, sighing out. “I was scared of an outright civil war between my people. No one ever listened to me, I was _terrified_ of losing everything we had worked for.” He opened his eyes. “Forgive me if I acted irrationally.”

Quackity huffed, shaking his head. “That still doesn’t excuse it.”

“I know that. But I’m not about to let Schlatt destroy everything. Do you know why I wanted to blow it up, why I thought of that?”

“No?”

“Because I thought it was the only way to save it from being tyranny, but now…” He smiled, glancing to Fundy, “I see. Schlatt’s time will come without any of us needing to lift a finger.”

“Okay… So, you’re telling me things will be back to normal?” Quackity asked, sounding excited.

Tommy nodded vehemently. “Things will be back to normal.”

Quackity looked to Alivebur. “You know, Wilbur, when I ran for President, I wasn’t trying to take power away from you, I was just trying to give a better life to Manberg. But… honestly? Shit got out of control… But listen, I think we’re onto something.”

“We can get it back!” Tommy yelled out. “ _Our_ L’Manberg!”

Fundy chuckled. “To Schlatt’s death!”

“To Schlatt’s death!” they all shouted.

Ghostbur grinned. To Schlatt’s _goddamn_ untimely death!


	3. Changed The Tides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the streams, huh? A lot has happened, canon is so different now compared to when I began writing this fic kdfgjhdfg!!

Alivebur sat down by a tree, on the hill overlooking the tower. “Just sit, I have bread.”

Ghostbur laughed gently and sat down beside him. “Why did you bring me up here, Alivebur?”

“Firstly, because I’m sick of potatoes and I don’t want to share my bread stock with anyone else. Secondly, because Pogtopia is a bit busy at the moment, with Tommy and Tubbo training and Techno laughing at them, and I wanted to talk.”

“Okay… What about?”

Alivebur tore one loaf of bread in half, handing a piece off to Ghostbur. He bit off a large chunk, idly chewing at it as he shrugged. “I…” He swallowed, staring down at his hands. “What was it like to die?”

Ghostbur nearly choked on the bite he’d taken. He placed his bread down on the grass, swallowing quickly as he turned to Alivebur. Carefully, he placed his hand on his shoulder, catching his eyesight. “Why do you want to know?”

Alivebur sighed, looking Ghostbur up and down. “I can’t imagine what it would be like, whenever my time comes… I’m curious.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.”

Ghostbur glared at him, eyes as stern as Phil’s, or at least, he hoped they were.

Alivebur stared right back at him, but there was no… look in his eye that suggested he was planning anything. “Curious. That’s all.”

With a sigh, Ghostbur released him, turning to the tower. He glanced at the Fear sign, smiling slightly. L’Ear. He wondered if it would still become that. “I’ve explained this to many people before but… imagine you’re on a road.”

“Okay…”

“And you’re travelling down it, and then suddenly your dad stabs you and you’re dead.” Ghostbur shrugged, poking at his bread. “There was nothing, no god, I didn’t see anything… and then I came back as a ghost. But… the death itself? Being stabbed? It hurt, a lot, and I bled to death in that room as Phil went off to help the others.”

Alivebur looked to him, eyes welling up. “You… died alone?”

“Yeah…” He’d never really thought of how lonely it had been before but… it was. “Yeah, I did, while I watched Techno unleash the withers.”

“Fuck…”

“Don’t worry though, you won’t be dying for a long while yet.”

Alivebur hummed. “Hopefully.”

Ghostbur picked up his bread again, tearing off a small piece. He popped it into his mouth, glancing around the area before him. From here, he could just barely see the part of the lake where Techno’s base was hidden under. “You know… you have to talk to Techno at one point. He will think he’s been betrayed if you set up a government.”

Alivebur groaned. “I know. For a guy that once took over the world and had an empire with Phil in lands long gone, he really hates government, authority, and so on and so forth.”

“I know he taught us everything we know, how to kill but… he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you and unleash the withers.”

Alivebur stroked at his chin. “Ahh… I know.”

“Maybe you can come up with something that would be okay with him.” Ghostbur tossed the bread between his hands, trying to _think_. “Oh! He’s also been grinding, a _lot_. He’ll be pissed if he can’t show off his stuff.”

“We won’t need it.” Alivebur lifted his chin, shoulders squared. “We aren’t fighting. We don’t need weapons or armour. I finally… see that again.”

“Still. You’d be denying him blood, and you know how that usually goes.”

“He’ll have to deal with it. I’m not going to let any violence be unleashed upon L’Manberg if I can help it.” Alivebur turned to Ghostbur, pushing his fist into the grass. “Not when it can be taken back peacefully.”

Ghostbur huffed a laugh. Seeing the hope in Alivebur’s eyes… my god. “I really changed you, didn’t I? What happened to the chaos?”

“Why have chaos when I have my son back, when I can see hope for L’Manberg?”

“I’m glad you have that hope.”

“Me too.” Alivebur turned to the setting sun, grinning. “Me too.”

Ghostbur placed his hand on Alivebur’s shoulder again, simply for the comfort of it. “I wish I could have seen what you do.”

“Well… I wouldn’t have without you.” He glanced to him, smiling still. “You showed me the truth, and it changed everything.”

“Mmm, I can only hope everything will go smoothly.”

“It will, we have time.”

Ghostbur hummed, taking a bite of his bread. Yeah, they had all the time in the world. Eight days left. All that had to be done was… calm Techno and reassure him that everything would be fine. That was it. They didn’t need to mine for supplies, because there would be no war.

Except…

“The potato farm is abandoned, right?” Ghostbur asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Let’s make it into a wheat farm, for bread!”

Alivebur grinned, jumping up. “That’s a brilliant idea.” He went jumping down the hill. “Come on!”

Ghostbur laughed, yeah… somehow… _somehow_ … he’d given Alivebur something back. His old way of life, his old spirit. It was quite the sight for a dead version of himself, that was for certain.

\--

“Techno, can I speak with you?” Alivebur asked, hands cupped behind his back.

“Ohh! Are you in _trou_ ble?!” Tommy shouted from across the ravine. Ghostbur swore that kid had the hearing of a bat.

Techno immediately glared at Tommy, and Ghostbur watched as Tommy rolled his eyes, going back to cleaning one of his discs. Even though it wasn’t one of _the_ discs, he still held it, and the others, close to his heart. They were more than just music to him, and that had to be respected.

“What do you want?” Techno asked.

“Come, not here. It’s about the rebellion.” Alivebur gestured towards the tunnels.

With a sigh, Techno said, “Okay, but it better be important. I have grinding to do.”

“Don’t worry, it’s important.”

Ghostbur hummed. Indeed it was. They headed down into the tunnels, away from all preying eyes and ears. Not that it had to be entirely private, but maybe Alivebur wanted to keep some secrets from the others. And maybe this was one of them.

Alivebur leant in close as they came to a stop in the main tunnel. “I know you want to spawn in the withers, but you can’t.”

Techno took a step back. “Why not? You promised me destruction, Wilbur.”

“I’ve seen a better way. Schlatt’s going to die from his addiction, and we’re going to wait out his death.”

“Well, if he’s going to die then we can storm Manberg now, he’ll be weak.”

“No.” Alivebur shook his head firmly. “No. We can take L’Manberg back peacefully, and with Schlatt dead, and every member of the cabinet gone from their post, a new leader can take charge.”

Techno snarled ever so slightly, but it was so slight that anyone who hadn’t grown up watching him intently wouldn’t have noticed. “A new government? Come on, Wilbur, you know better than that.”

“Do I? I started that country, I lay down my life for it, if I can bring it back to its roots _I will_. All I’m asking for is that you don’t destroy it.”

“Wilbur… I can’t let you do that, you know I can’t.”

Alivebur clenched his jaw. “Would you really destroy the country the son of your best friend built?” He scoffed. “Just to stick to your goddamn morals, ultimate chaos?”

Techno let out a deep sigh. “Don’t play the ‘Phil is my dad’ card, it won’t work this time.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve already told Phil you’re going to blow it up, and he’s on his way.”

Alivebur’s eyes widened, and Ghostbur was at his side, hand on his shoulder. What the fuck? What the… So it was Techno that had brought him…? It was Techno that had set off the chain reaction towards his death…? _Techno_? His dad’s best friend? Who was almost like an uncle to him? _Techno threw him to the dogs?_ Said dogs being his dad.

“I… can’t believe this…” Ghostbur whispered, reaching into his pocket.

Alivebur hung his head, exhaling shakily. “I’m not going to blow it up, Techno. I changed my mind, I found hope again.” He looked to him now, eyes full of anger. “When we get it back, if you attack us with your withers, we can never be friends again.”

“I don’t need to be your friend, Wilbur,” Techno said, firm and stern. “I’m just a friend of your dad’s, you mean little to me.”

Alivebur stopped still and Ghostbur squeezed his shoulder because _what the fuck_? “You… don’t consider me a friend? Even when I was growing up?”

Techno shook his head, but there was something in his expression… “No, and especially not if you establish a new government.”

Alivebur’s eyes went dark, his lips twitched. “You don’t mean that, because if you did, you wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t have called for Phil.” He stepped in close again. “What are you afraid of?”

Once more, Techno took a step back. “You’ve lost it, Will. There’s only one person who can save you from your own demise.”

“I haven’t lost it. I promise.” Alivebur spread out his arms. “I mean, look at me, I’m not going to do _anything_ bad to L’Manberg or myself. _I promise_.”

Techno stared at him for a long moment. “What… changed your mind?”

Alivebur glanced away, towards Ghostbur, a small smile to his lips. “I… stopped believing I had to be the bad guy to win.” He looked to Techno. “That, and I talked to some people.”

“Hm, good.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“I will.”

Alivebur placed a hand at his hip. “What if I don’t re-establish a government?”

Techno tilted his head, folding his arms. “I’m listening…”

“I’m afraid of losing everything, right? Schlatt took it all from me, and he did it just because he could.” He smiled. “But he’s gonna die, and L’Manberg has a chance to be something else.” He bowed his head for a second, eyes flicking up to Techno. “What _if_ I make it into a community? Not a government, just a free community, where people can be who they want, do what they want, and go wherever they want. No betrayals, no nation beyond the community, no _government_. Just a group surviving and living together… Does that go against your beliefs?”

Techno grasped the hilt of his sword, leaning back a small bit. “N– _No_ …”

“Then, do we have an agreement? You won’t destroy it if I don’t create a government?”

“Wilbur…” He sighed. “I need blood from something, anything… just to keep them entertained.”

Alivebur folded his arms, glancing away. “Okay… then go after Dream.” He smiled, looking back. “What do you have to lose? You never die. It would be fun for them, _and_ … it’s not like it would be meaningful. Just a spar session, or you could make it more serious.”

Techno nodded slowly. “You have a point.” He stepped away. “I’ll start making some potions.” He turned, walking back towards Pogtopia, only to stop mid step. He threw a glance over his shoulder. “Just be warned, Wilbur, I will go after you if I must.”

Alivebur shrugged. “I know. Goodbye, Techno.”

With a nod, Techno left.

Ghostbur came up beside Alivebur. “That went well.”

Alivebur put his hands in his pockets, humming. “It did, didn’t it?” He looked towards Ghostbur, eyes slipping to his hands. “What… is that?”

Ghostbur stopped the rubbing motion and glanced up to Alivebur. “Huh? This?” He held up his right hand, where he’d been playing with some Blue, moulding it with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s Blue!”

Alivebur grabbed his hand, forcing it open. He shoved the Blue away, and it went tumbling to the ground. “Why are you using _that_ to cope? It’s dangerous!”

“It’s…” Ghostbur trembled, eyes welling, “not.”

“Yes, it is. It steals anything sad from you!” He grabbed Ghostbur’s shoulders, eyes earnest as he stared at him. “Have you thrown _any_ of it away?”

“Yes.”

Alivebur let out a shaky breath, eyes almost frantic. “Did you _die_ with any on you?”

“Yes…”

“Oh… my god.” He pushed away. “Why do you _think_ you lost your memories, Ghostbur? It’s the Blue.”

“No!” He gritted his teeth. “No, you’re lying!”

“Have you forgotten what draining the sad does, it takes away all meaning! I’m sure your trauma did the rest!”

Ghostbur couldn’t help his trembling. His lips quivered, his hands shook, his body shuddered with shivers. No… No, Blue was good! He knew it was good! It took the sadness away, it made it better! Didn’t it? _Didn’t it?!_

“I… I…”

His eyes welled until he couldn’t see, his shaking didn’t cease, and he lost all ability to think past the cloud that had formed in his mind.

And all of a sudden, Alivebur collided into him, wrapping his arms around him. The hug was tight and… safe. It was… When was the last time he had been hugged? Was it when… he died? No, Phil hadn’t hugged him, he had helped shift him to the wall though. Was… it when– Oh… Oh, no… It was the last time he had hugged Fundy, right? That was the last hug, right? When… when was that? It was so long ago, when, when…

Alivebur’s arms were so warm, he was so alive–

L’Manberg! After they had won the war, he had hugged Fundy so tightly, spinning him around!

Oh… that was so, so _long_ ago. So long ago.

He had to die. He had to make sure Alivebur lived more than ever. He had left Fundy without a dad, left everyone behind to… He had… They had wanted it, didn’t they? Wanted him to die? They would have executed him anyway… Right? But Alivebur, this Alivebur, he was changed, he knew what hope was again, he believed in another way… there was hope for him.

Alivebur squeezed Ghostbur tight before pulling away, hand landing on his shoulder. He sniffed. “I am so sorry for whatever happened to you, Ghostbur. I had no idea you were that sad.”

“I thought… the Blue helped.”

“No… no it just takes.”

Ghostbur nodded, shakily. “Thank you, for hugging me.”

Alivebur smiled sadly. “You seemed like you needed it.”

“I… did, yeah.”

“Okay, well, let’s get some bread, and we can sit in the afternoon sun.” He patted his shoulder, stepping back. “You _definitely_ need some sun.”

Ghostbur laughed wetly, glancing down at his hands. “I am a bit grey, it has to be said.”

“Hey, maybe you’ll get a tan.”

“Yeah, sure, because that’s how ghosts work.”

They both laughed, and it echoed off the tunnel’s walls. With a bit of joy back in his step, they headed on out. Despite everything, things were looking up for Alivebur and this version of events, they really were.

\--

Ghostbur was lounging on the grass of the Prime Corner, doing nothing other than thinking, when Tommy approached Alivebur, where he was sitting atop the furnaces, cleaning his crossbow. There was a nervous air to Tommy, he was even fiddling with his hands, a habit he had picked up after the war in the quiet moments, when he didn’t have to act like a ‘big man’.

“What are you up to?” Tommy asked.

Alivebur glanced up from his work, placing the crossbow down on his lap. “Just cleaning my new crossbow.”

Tommy jumped up on the chests, swinging his legs. “What’s its enchants?”

“Piercing IV, Quick Charge III, Mending, and Unbreaking III.” He shrugged. “Just your normal run of the mill crossbow.”

“Yeah, sure, because a maxed out crossbow is run of the mill.” Tommy huffed a laugh. “Does it have a name?”

“Oh, yeah.” Alivebur’s eyes flicked towards Ghostbur before settling on Tommy again. “Chekhov’s Gun.”

Ghostbur smiled, when he had talked about his crossbow, Alivebur had been adamant that he would make one himself.

Tommy flinched, however. “Chekhov’s Gun…? Why?”

“Just a fun literary device.” Alivebur reached out, shoving gently at Tommy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. It’s a joke. I’m not foreshadowing blowing up L’Manberg, okay?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about actually.” And the fiddling was back… “Why did you change your mind? You were so set on it.”

Alivebur picked up the piece of wool he’d been using, and began cleaning the crossbow again. “I talked to Eret.”

“You… _what_?”

“Yeah. I asked him what it was like to betray L’Manberg.”

Tommy banged the heels of his feet off the chests. “What did he say?”

“He said he was happy, at first, but now he feels regret.” Alivebur breathed in deeply. “He told me a home truth that got to me, though.”

“What…?”

“That no matter what happens to L’Manberg, even if I blew it up, someone would rebuild it. Its spirit, no matter how corrupted, would live on. And so, I thought on it and decided the best way to save L’Manberg is to… take it peacefully, and dismantle a government in order to let a community thrive instead.” Alivebur bit at his lip, cocking his head slightly. “Does that… sound alright?”

Tommy’s eyes slipped to the ground. “No government?”

“Yeah.”

“Like how it was… before Dream declared war?”

Ghostbur could see the cogs turning in Alivebur’s head, because yeah, Tommy had a point. They were more like a community. The government titles only came through when the war was won. Was that the spark of the downfall?

Alivebur nodded slowly. “Yeah, yeah exactly.” He pushed at Tommy’s shoulder again. “Hey, maybe we need the unsullied ground back.”

Tommy laughed meekly. “Yeah, yeah, maybe.” He looked Alivebur in the eye. “You’re really not gonna blow it up?”

Alivebur leant closer, getting to eye level with Tommy. “I’m not going to blow it up, I swear on Phil’s _life_.”

Tommy’s eyes slightly widened. “Oh… You’re really telling the truth.”

“I am.”

With a nod, Tommy drew back, hopping off the chests. “Well, uh, good.” He smiled at Alivebur. “Thank you, for changing your mind. As I said, what’s the point if there’s no L’Manberg, yeah?”

Alivebur gave a curt nod, smiling as well. “Yeah.”

Tommy stared for a moment before walking away, heading towards the tunnels.

“He trusts you,” Ghostbur said, grinning. “You’re lucky to have a Tommy that still trusts you.”

Alivebur put his crossbow away and headed up the stairs, sitting beside Ghostbur. He narrowed his eyes, drawing his left leg to his chest. “Your Tommy doesn’t trust you?”

“He likes Ghost me, he hates what Alive me became. I don’t think he’ll ever see me the same, _ever_.”

Alivebur sighed. “Your time sounds, quite frankly, terrible.”

Ghostbur shrugged, glancing away. “Yeah, well, you don’t know the half of it.”

“Then… tell me the half of it, so I can avoid those mistakes in the future.”

“You know some of it, but you don’t know what Dream did to Tommy. I’ve told you about Techno and L’Manberg but… not the exile.”

Alivebur stilled. “What… what did Dream do?”

Ghostbur tapped his fingers off his leg, it cleared his mind a little. Ever since Alivebur had taken his Blue away, he’d been trying to calm himself in other ways. “He manipulated him, made him believe he was his friend. I didn’t have as many memories then, so I couldn’t help, I was still an innocent ghost, as it were, but god… I wish I could have done more.”

“Manipulated him how? Why would Tommy believe _Dream_ was a friend?”

“When Tommy was exiled, Dream didn’t just escort him out of L’Manberg, he escorted him out of the Dream SMP lands.”

Alivebur leant back, almost like he was in shock. “No…”

“Yes. He did.” Ghostbur picked at his trousers, almost nipping at his skin. “I followed, I had promised Tommy I would, that I would always look after him.” He frowned. “But I kept forgetting he was exiled, kept thinking it was a holiday. And two thousand blocks out, we made Logstedshire, Logsted for short. At first, Tommy had his fire, we laughed over logs and it was… good?” He shook his head. “But Tommy saw people giving him gifts as pity, he wanted to stand on his own, and that’s where Dream comes in. He visited, _a lot_. Almost every day, for what I know. He kept convincing Tommy that he was his only friend, that the others didn’t care for him.”

“And it eventually took hold?”

“Yeah, especially with the beach party. He prepared, with Fundy and Phil, but Dream was there and… and he knew I was going to send out the invites.” Ghostbur shivered, poking himself in the leg now. The guilt bubbling up in his throat clouded his mind, almost like he couldn’t see again. “I had gotten to Connor, with the invites, when Dream intercepted me. He took the invites off me, and told me Tommy didn’t want me there.” He rubbed at his arm, and kept rubbing. “I still didn’t have enough memories to know any different, and he… he sent me out into the snowy wilderness and… and I got _trapped_ because of the snow. I hid for a long time, until I stumbled across Techno’s base.”

Alivebur’s eyes were so full of concern. “So… Dream manipulated you too?”

Ghostbur nodded, still rubbing at his arm. “I’d say he took advantage of my trusting nature. But when Dream took the invites, he must have destroyed them, because no one came to the party, so Dream manipulated Tommy into thinking _he_ was his only friend, and that the others didn’t care about him because they didn’t come, but that’s not true because they didn’t know, and…”

“Stop,” Alivebur said, suddenly, hands reaching out to still him. He carefully pried his hand away from his arm, shaking his head. “You’re trying to calm yourself, but you’re harming yourself instead.”

Ghostbur glanced down at his arm. “I’m a ghost, I can’t… It’s not… I’m…”

“You were scratching at your arm, Ghostbur, that’s… I’d call that self-harm. And you were poking at your leg violently too.” He caught his eyesight, staring with earnest. “Is this why the Blue helped? It kept you from doing this?”

“I…” Ghostbur slumped, and he curled his free arm against his stomach, as Alivebur was still holding his other. “I…” He hung his head. “I… don’t know. It’s stressful… this, _remembering_ , talking about the exile. Tommy was in pain and I couldn’t _do_ anything!”

“I’m sorry that happened. But look at all the good you’re doing by being here, yeah?”

Ghostbur flinched shaking his head violently, pulling away, standing up. “No. No! Just… no.” His eyes filled with tears, unable to stop them. “If I go back, if this is just a dream or something the totems are doing to prove myself, or _anything_ like that! I’ll end up going back to a reality that is terrible and awful and _nothing_ like this one! Nothing! Phil has probably made a deal with Dream, and fuck knows what is happening to Tommy right now! He might be with Techno but, something horrible is going to happen, I can feel it!”

Alivebur pushed himself up, reaching out, but not coming any closer. “Ghostbur… please. You’re getting too stressed. What do you need?”

“I… I…” He put his head into his hands, screaming, curling his nails into his forehead. “I don’t know!” he yelled, collapsing onto his knees. “I, I don’t know…!”

He dropped his hands, staring at them as tears ran from his eyes. He just… Why was remembering so hard sometimes? Why did it hurt? Was it because he was protective over Tommy, he wanted to help him, save him, but it was too late, and just as Techno and Tommy were planning to do some ‘minor terrorism’, Phil had trapped him and forced him to be alive again, but he wasn’t alive, was he? He was _here_.

He had none of his people here. This Fundy was nothing like the traumatised boy he had left behind. This Tommy had too much hope, and had not yet been manipulated into thinking his worst enemy was his best friend. This Tubbo hadn’t yet had the weight of a nation holding him down, holding him back. This Techno hadn’t yet released the withers, hadn’t yet believed he had been betrayed even though… he must have known it was gonna go down like that, that the government would…

And Phil. Phil wasn’t here yet. Hadn’t killed him, hadn’t… Hadn’t…

“Ghostbur…” Alivebur said softly.

Ghostbur glanced up, Alivebur was kneeling in front of him, still quite a distance away.

“Here…” He, he was holding a note block. “You can use this to cope.”

Ghostbur took it off him, staring at it. “Why did you have this on you?”

Alivebur frowned. “I… I didn’t. I made it, just now. Didn’t you see me move?”

Oh… oh no, he’d really been out of it there, hadn’t he? “No.”

“Oh… Ghostbur, I’m so sorry, for all you’re going through.” He sat back, crossing his legs. “You deserve help, but you’ll never get it here.”

Ghostbur couldn’t help the shake that ran through him. “Yeah…” He carefully placed the note block down, going through the notes, a small smile to his lips. “I might… get more of these.”

“You think they’ll help?”

“Yeah, I think they will.”

Alivebur nodded, smiling sadly. “I’ll help you get more. I just… want you to be okay.”

Ghostbur’s dead heart twinged with sadness. “Maybe I will be, one day. Maybe…”

For now, they both listened as the sounds of the note block rang out.

\--

“He’s so grown up and yet… he’s still my little boy,” Ghostbur whispered, staring at Fundy as he was observing the bees.

They were up in the hills, amongst all the trees for a little fresh air. Alivebur was reading a book, glasses on, and Fundy was messing about, having a bit of innocent fun. He needed that, he grew up too fast with the war…

Alivebur nodded a small bit – since he couldn’t talk – glancing to Ghostbur with sympathetic eyes.

Ghostbur nodded and looked back to Fundy. “Do you think I could hug him? I’m still physical to the world, just… no one but you can see me. It’s like I’ve taken a super invisibility potion, where anything I hold is just invisible.” He frowned. “Do you think I can?”

Alivebur’s eyes screamed with curiosity, but also caution.

“I’m going to do it.”

Alivebur sighed.

Ghostbur ignored him. He approached Fundy slowly, reaching out. He hadn’t touched anyone else yet… this was the first time! He placed his hand on his shoulder and before he knew what had happened, Fundy had flinched away, stumbling back, glancing all around.

“What was that? What the _fuck_ was that?” he said, turning in circles.

Alivebur sighed deeply now, taking off his glasses, hooking them on his shirt. “Oh, no…”

Fundy looked to him. “What?! What is it?”

Ghostbur frowned, curling in on himself. “I’m sorry.”

“I have to tell him,” Alivebur said, staring right at Ghostbur.

“Oh…”

“Tell me what?” Fundy’s eyes were wide, frantic. “Something touched me, Will. It felt like a hand! But there’s no one else here! Not even particles!”

Alivebur placed his book down on the grass, picking himself up. He didn’t have his trench coat on today, he was simply wearing the new shirt Eret had given him. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that this Alivebur was… true to himself.

“Fundy…” Alivebur said carefully, approaching but not coming too close. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I’m not, I promise.”

Fundy raised his eyebrows.

“I know what touched you. It was me… but not _me_.” Alivebur took a breath as Fundy’s expression morphed into a furrowed brow and curled lips. “Something happened, a week ago. I was in Pogtopia and all of a sudden I saw myself, not _me_ , but a dead version of myself, with grey skin and a yellow jumper. He’s from the future, after everything that happens with Schlatt but… but he told me things that will happen and I… I changed because of that, because things can be _better_.”

Fundy turned, eyes searching in the trees. “It does sound crazy but…” He looked back to Alivebur. “How else could you have known? You had no reason to trust me out of the blue.” He paced away, towards the edge of the hill. “And I hadn’t spoken a word of it to anyone so– Wait.” He whipped around. “Wait you said… you said dead? You…” He let out a shaky breath, “die? How long?”

Ghostbur shivered. “Be vague, don’t… don’t tell him exactly. Just…”

Alivebur looked to him. “I know. Just… place down a note block, okay?”

Ghostbur nodded and placed one down. He sat beside it, tapping on it, eyes focused on Alivebur and Fundy.

“Wait…” Fundy said, inching closer. “ _He’s_ the one who has been playing music? I thought that was you!”

“No… it was him. I…”

“So, he’s dead?”

“Yes.”

Fundy’s eyes welled ever so slightly. “When?”

Alivebur reached out for him, nowhere near to touch. “That doesn’t matter, I’ve already changed the events that would have led to my death, it’s _okay_.”

“When, Will?”

“Ah… The 16th.”

“What happens on the 16th?”

Ghostbur stopped playing, leaning on the block. “You’re going to hurt him, if you tell him.”

But Alivebur ignored him completely, rolling his shoulders. “In Ghostbur’s time? The 16th was a war, and he ended up blowing up L’Manberg.”

Fundy’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god.”

“Then he asked Phil to kill him.”

Ghostbur shuddered and went back to playing the block as he idly watched.

“My grandpa?”

Alivebur nodded.

“Do you know why he’s here then?”

“He was being resurrected by Phil, and when he woke up, he was in our Pogtopia.”

Fundy covered his mouth, nodding. “Fuck…”

Alivebur shifted on his feet. “So, you believe me?”

“Well, it does make sense, I think. And something did just place down a note block.” He folded his arms. “But I… We can prove it’s _him_.”

“How?”

Fundy’s eyes searched the surrounding area. “Is Ghostbur his name?”

“Yes, that’s how he refers to himself.”

“Okay… uh, Ghostbur? If you’re real, hug me to prove it.” Fundy outstretched his arms, and Ghostbur didn’t waste a _second_. He jumped up, rushing towards Fundy, knocking into him with a solid hug, wrapping his arms around him. “Oof.”

This Fundy… he was so different to his own… The Butcher Army hadn’t happened to him yet either… He had so many hopeful paths to go down!

He felt Fundy’s arms wrap around him. Yes! Yes, he knew he was real!

“Oh my god,” Fundy whispered. “You’re real.”

“I am, I am!”

From behind him, Alivebur said, “He said he is.”

Fundy nodded.

“I’m so sorry for all I did to you…” Ghostbur sighed. “Tell him that even though he doesn’t know me, that I love him and that I regret not spending more time with him when it mattered.”

“Fundy…” Alivebur whispered. “Ghostbur said that even though you don’t know him, he loves you, and he regrets not spending more time with you when it mattered.” He shifted, Ghostbur could hear the nervousness in his voice. “And I echo that, I do promise to spend time with you now.”

Fundy backed out of the hug, and Ghostbur smiled. He needed that. He needed to hug Fundy, _his son_.

Fundy smiled slightly at Alivebur. “I’m glad.” He glanced around the surrounding area again. “And to you, Ghostbur, that was a good hug.”

“Thank you!” he said with more joy in his voice than he expected.

Alivebur grinned. “He said thank you.”

Fundy nodded. “Okay… now that the weirdness is out of the way… I’m going to go look for some foxes.”

“Okay,” Alivebur said, putting his glasses back on. He picked up his book, hooking it under his arm. “Have fun.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.” He wandered off and Ghostbur watched him go, noting his posture.

“He’s processing,” he whispered slowly.

“Yeah.” Alivebur turned towards the sun. “It’s no easy thing to think about. Even I still struggle with the concept.”

Ghostbur hummed. “But at least we’ve changed the tides together. When Fundy processes it all, you’ll both be stronger than ever, because he’ll know you chose to live.”

“True…” Alivebur beamed now. “Yeah, I hope you’re right. I still have a long way to go before our relationship is fixed.”

“There’s hope, you have time. _So much time_.”

“So much time…” Alivebur murmured, staring up at the sky, with his book and his glasses on like this was the past, like this was before.

That was the one thing they had never had… Time. What would he have achieved if he had more time with L’Manberg? They could have had so much more.


	4. Freedom

“I thought you got rid of that…” Ghostbur uttered, coming up behind Alivebur.

Alivebur turned, tugging the coat’s lapels. “Don’t you remember?”

Ghostbur shook his head.

“I tucked it under the bed. Didn’t have the heart to get rid of it.”

“Oh… Well, it looks good. It always did.”

“Yeah.” Alivebur looked down at himself, like he was checking out the coat all over again. “I always liked it. The perfect outfit for a revolution.”

“But not for a rebellion.”

“No… but if we’re going back, I need this. I wouldn’t dare wear anything else.” He turned back to the glass he’d placed down – in the hole he had dug out in the wall. He was clearly checking if the coat still looked good. It had been so long after all. “I washed it as well, fixed it all up.”

Ghostbur huffed a laugh. “We never did wash it, did we?”

“No, but it deserved a good wash. A new era is almost upon us.”

“You’re starting to sound like your old self.”

Alivebur chuckled softly. “Yeah, maybe.” He took his glasses out of his pocket, putting them on. He spread out his arms slightly, whirling back around. “How do I look?”

Ghostbur smiled slightly. “Like a man who started a nation.”

He hummed, his lips twitched upwards. “I will make it freedom again. I’ll do anything to protect it from tyranny.”

“I know you will, because I did. I know you.” Ghostbur shrugged. “It’s just I turned to blowing it up, and you… But you can do so much more.”

“I will, I promise you I will.”

Ghostbur straightened up, cupping his hands behind his back. “Is it time then?”

Alivebur tilted his head slightly. “You tell me.”

With a nod, he stepped to the side. “It’s time.”

It was the 16th today. The day Schlatt died. The day that should have been a war and yet… wasn’t. Taking it back with peace… It had been so strange to watch the last ten days play out. Dream was nowhere to be seen. Everyone in Pogtopia had been bonding, laughing around a fire. Alivebur had even dug out his guitar, singing merrily with everyone. There had been a lightness that Ghostbur had never gotten to see in his time.

A joy… No one had joy anymore back home.

Alivebur strode out of the small room, heading down to the path into the tunnels. He walked with determination, with the air of a leader, of a man who had everything to lose – not nothing.

Everyone had congregated at the roofed area, just before the stairs down. Tommy, Fundy, Tubbo, Quackity, Niki, and Techno.

“Thank you for getting together,” Alivebur said, hands cupped behind his back. Ghostbur came up beside him, smiling. “Fundy has been keeping a close eye on Schlatt’s progress. It seems his condition has gotten even worse. For that reason, I’m going into Manberg today. I’m planning to have a chat with him.”

“Only a chat?” Techno asked, a laugh in his voice.

Alivebur curtly nodded. “Only that.” He straightened up more so, as if to tower above everyone else. “We are what L’Manberg is. Liberty. Peace. We put our people above all else. _That_ is what I believe, and while, for a bit, I did forget that myself, I know now. We cannot take it back by force, so, I _will_ have a chat with Schlatt. Maybe we can come to an arrangement.”

Ghostbur huffed a small laugh. “I know you need reason, and that you do not intend to come to an agreement with him, but you at least have a chance to _really_ talk to him. He has a few hours yet.”

Alivebur hummed softly. Quietly. Ah, he’d think on it. “I know some of you wanted war, but there is no reason to fight if we don’t have to. We are L’Manbergians. We use our _words_.”

Fundy lifted his chin. Tommy smirked. Tubbo smiled, eyes full of hope. Niki had an air of caution to her, but her expression spoke of trust. And Quackity seemed content. Techno, on the other hand, looked to be in the huff, but he’d get over it.

“Alright then. I’m off to L’Manberg. Follow if you want, but stay to the side-lines.” He smiled slightly. “I’m sure there will be plenty to watch.”

Techno shrugged. “Might as well get some entertainment out of this.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, following Alivebur as he headed towards the stairs. Tubbo also filtered out, closely followed by Fundy and Niki, then Quackity. Finally, Techno huffed a breath and went along with them too. Ghostbur smiled. It was all coming together nicely. But… maybe he had made a mistake in all this.

One.

Tiny.

Mess up.

He could have saved Schlatt too. If they had somehow tried hard enough, maybe they could have gotten him help for his addiction. Maybe they could have…

But was it worth saving a man like that? A man who would turn to violence like he had, who had twisted L’Manberg into oppression?

Well…

He supposed the same could have been said for him. At least, for the violence.

He had blown up a nation. Why did he deserve a second chance?

Just because he had people who still loved the alive him?

In a way, it didn’t matter anymore. Today was happening. And by the end of it… he could very well stop existing. He could go back to his own time, or stay in this one. He had talked through it with Alivebur a few times now, but they had never come up with a theory that stuck.

Ghostbur didn’t know what he wanted. Just… he wanted peace. That was _all_.

He rolled his shoulders, well, there was no time for a crisis now, he had to be there for Alivebur.

He went chasing after them all, catching up in no time. Though, they had made it halfway through the tunnel. Alivebur smiled at him once he was at his side, nodding slightly. Ghostbur nodded back. At least he had Alivebur through all of this, himself, but not himself… A man who he _had_ saved, thank god.

\--

Tommy laughed. “He’s so pathetic.”

Alivebur glanced to him, shrugging. “He is.”

They were on the hill by Eret’s tower, peering over the edge. Most of them were sitting down, but Techno was leaning on tower’s wall, arms crossed. And Quackity was off to the side, hand stroking his face. Hm, chaos, and an ex… something. Of course they wouldn’t just be sitting down talking with the others.

Alivebur straightened up, vaulting over the fence. “I’ll be back.” He twirled around, smiling at them, his coat swaying behind him. “I promise once the day is out, we will have our home back.”

“Is it even yours?” Techno asked with a huff.

Ghostbur tsked, shaking his head. “He’s such a silly man sometimes.”

Alivebur’s lips twitched, but other than that, he didn’t let on that he’d heard Ghostbur. “It doesn’t matter. I made this country for a reason, I’m not letting Schlatt corrupt it any longer.”

“That sounds like you’re going to kill him…” Niki said slowly.

“No, I won’t. I promise you.”

Techno huffed again, pushing off the wall. “It would be easier to kill him.”

Alivebur shot a glare Techno’s way. “You would say that.” As Techno bristled, Alivebur began walking backwards, over the wheat. “Anyhow, it’s now or never. I’ll be back soon.” He twirled around, jumping down the hill.

Ghostbur followed with a smile.

Schlatt was up on the stand, in his seat, glass bottle in hand. Ghostbur thinned his lips. He really had taken to unhealthy vices, but maybe alcohol and cigarettes were better than… say… TNT. When he thought everyone had left him, he had turned to violence. When everyone had turned away from Schlatt, he fell deeper into his vices, his addiction only getting worse. Two very different routes, responses to being alone, or… the perception of being alone.

“Schlatt!” Alivebur called, hands cupped behind his back. He was standing at the edge of the path, staring upwards.

Schlatt leant forward, squinting. “W– Wilbur? What the _fuck_ are you doing here?!”

His suit was askew, just like it had been in Ghostbur’s 16th. But instead of huddling in the husk of the Camarvan, he was out here, upon a stand no one was gathered at. Literally alone. A leader whose people didn’t love him. Where everyone on his side had turned away, backs to him.

“I’m here to talk, Schlatt. You and I both know you’re on borrowed time!”

“Then why’s he here?!” he called out, gesturing with his bottle in a swinging motion.

Alivebur turned, grinning as he set eyes on Eret. He offered his hand. “Glad you could make it.”

Eret smiled back, shaking hands with Alivebur. “Glad I can be of assistance.”

Alivebur curled his arm around Eret’s shoulders, gesturing up to Schlatt. “Eret here will make sure we don’t fight!”

“As a neutral party from neutral lands!” Eret said.

Schlatt stood, swaying a little. How long had he been drinking? How was this _worse_? Was it because of the… the lack of a war? Had that given him a chance to fight for something, albeit briefly? “Yeah…! Neutral. Looks neutral to me…!”

Alivebur sighed, stepping away from Eret. “Look, come down so we can talk.”

“Why?! What do we have to talk about?”

“The state of L’Manberg! You’re running this nation into the ground, you’re corrupting it!”

“Oh, ho, ho! _I’m_ corrupting it, take a look at yourself, Wilbur!”

Eret stepped in front of Alivebur, hands placating both sides. “Come on now, there’s no need to fight in the streets. We can talk in the space centre.”

Schlatt took a swig of his drink, shrugging the shoulder of his suit jacket back on. “Fine by me.”

As he made his way down, Alivebur made his way towards the space centre, clucking his tongue as he stared up at the mess he and Tommy had made. It was essentially in ruins.

“I fucked up the roof so bad,” Alivebur said, taking out some stairs.

Eret glanced up. “What did you do?”

“Oh, Tommy and I hid in here during the festival. We didn’t leave this place in a good state, it has to be said.”

Eret hummed.

Alivebur placed three chairs down, flopping into one. Schlatt stumbled in, still holding his bottle. Filled to the brim with drugs, no doubt. Ghostbur wasn’t entirely sure if it was alcohol or not at this point. Schlatt collapsed in the chair opposite Alivebur, gasping for breath. He recovered, after some time, but even Alivebur looked concerned at his state, rather than gleeful that he was close to death.

Eret, who was in the corner, stepped away from a lantern, smiling. “That’s lit up nicely.”

Alivebur cocked an eyebrow, keenly watching Eret’s every move. “Why do you have those on you?”

Eret tossed a glance over his shoulder as he fixed another lantern into place. “Don’t ask questions.”

Alivebur shrugged, leaning back. “Alright.”

Once Eret was done, and the place was lit up, he sat in the chair between them.

“Wilbur,” Eret said, “would you like to start?”

“Yes.” He leant forward, looking towards Schlatt. “In your aim to expand L’Manberg, you’ve only made this nation weak. All the people you had on your side have left you, you’re alone. What I’m proposing is that you go and retire some place, so the rest of us can carve this nation into something better.”

Schlatt took a swig of whatever liquid was in that bottle. He laughed. “You really think you can come in here and take this from me, I was _elected_!”

“You executed Tubbo in front of everyone, you tore down the walls!”

“Oh those walls were useless.” Schlatt glared, eyes piercing. “You were _cowering_.”

“We were protected.”

“ _Cowards_!”

Alivebur clenched his fists, exhaling roughly. “You have _no_ idea the pain we went through. All the blood that was shed… You think us cowardly for walls when they were the only thing that protected us when we slept at night!”

Schlatt laughed again, and Ghostbur didn’t like it all that much. That laugh. The rumble of it. The way it haunted him… It was too much like the way he had laughed at the festival. He… always… He was scary. “I don’t need a history lesson, Wilbur. This isn’t your nation anymore.”

“It will be.” He straightened up in his chair. “You deny our history because you don’t care, you’re not _here_ because you care for L’Manberg, you’re here to sow discord.”

Schlatt smiled, taking another swig of his drink. “Heh… You worked it out then.”

“I’m smarter than I look.”

“Is that why you…” He gestured towards Alivebur’s face, “wear those?”

Alivebur took his glasses off, tucking them into his pocket. “I wear them to see better, dumbass.”

Eret shifted in his seat. “Wilbur…”

With a sigh, Alivebur leant back, tugging his leg to his chest. “You’ve _lost_.”

Schlatt smirked, lips curling cruelly. “Nah, I’ve won. Look at you, you’re a peaceful coward. You’ll never fight again.”

Alivebur threw his head back as he laughed, real heartily. “You call peace weak? I’ll preserve this country, you would have gotten it burnt to the ground.”

Ghostbur covered his mouth to stifle his laughing. He wasn’t wrong. Schlatt did end up being the main driver towards that, in another time, in another plane of existence. Although, he never knew it. After all, he’d died before he pressed the button.

“Oh, it will go down one day,” Schlatt said. “If you think Dream won’t come after you…” He slumped in his chair, jacket hanging off his shoulder. He looked… too thin? “He will come after you. You and I both know he wants L’Manberg off the ma _p_.”

Alivebur stood, lifting his chin, squaring his shoulders. He put his glasses back on, staring down at Schlatt. “He can try. But he will never succeed. L’Manberg lives in the people. It’s not the land, it’s never been the land.”

Eret smiled slowly. “The right of the people exists above the right of the king, the right of the government, and the right of the economy.”

Alivebur looked to him, eyes wide. “You remember?”

Eret stood, cloak settling behind him like the King that he was. “Of course I remember. I have never forgotten our roots.”

Alivebur nodded slowly. “I’m glad.”

Ghostbur stepped in closer, narrowing his eyes. Oh… That… Well, he knew it was going to happen, but seeing it again… “Uh, Alivebur… Schlatt is…”

Alivebur glanced to Schlatt, and Ghostbur didn’t fail to notice the way he deflated. “Eret…”

Eret’s lips parted slightly as he set eyes on Schlatt. “Oh, no.”

He had shortness of breath, clutching his chest.

Alivebur reached out towards him. “Hey, Schlatt, you–”

Schlatt batted Alivebur’s hands away, pushing up from his chair. He was wobbly on his feet, likely due to being drugged up on whatever he had been drinking, alcohol or otherwise. He snarled. “Get the _fuck_ away from me.”

He went stumbling towards the door, catching the doorframe to keep himself steady, rubbing at his chest. He pushed himself forward, heading outside. Alivebur followed after him, Eret trailing on behind.

Schlatt got as far as the second stall before his legs gave out. Luckily, Alivebur dove for him, catching him as he fell. He knelt on the grass, holding Schlatt in his arms. Eret was hovering to the side, taking small steps back. But Ghostbur lingered close, eyeing Schlatt’s face. His death was almost upon them… and somehow it was worse like this.

Just them, here. Not everyone in the Camarvan watching it happen. But at least he wouldn’t die alone.

“How does it feel…” Schlatt coughed, but it slowly turned into a laugh, “that you invited me back to be on your side, only for all this to… happen?”

Alivebur clenched his jaw. But Ghostbur knew he was holding back tears for an old friend. Because they had been friends, once, that was why… why he had been the endorsement in the first place but… it all went wrong. “Shitty, it feels shitty, _you bastard_.”

Schlatt smiled. “I’m dying, aren’t I?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t happen to have a health potion on you?”

“No…”

Schlatt grinned now. “It’s okay. This is a fitting end.” He was still clutching his chest. He must have been in a lot of pain, especially with how he was struggling to breathe. “I did what I… wanted to do.”

Alivebur’s expression morphed into… sadness. Ghostbur knew that look well. “I’m sure you have, but we will thrive after you’re gone.”

“L’Manberg will never survive and you know it.”

“It can and it will.”

“Says the man who put TNT under it.”

Alivebur’s eyes widened, darting from side to side.

“Yeah,” Schlatt said with a smile, wincing in pain. “I know. It had your name all over it. You fucking dirty crime boy.”

Alivebur scowled. “It was more than any dirty crime. Don’t reduce L’Manberg to that.”

Schlatt groaned in pain, coughing out a breath. “Oh, shut up with your pride.”

Alivebur deflated again. Schlatt was very obviously getting worse, he didn’t have long. Ghostbur crouched by him, placing a gentle hand at Alivebur’s back, which seemed to settle him even more.

“Look… you’re dying,” Alivebur said softly. “Do you want me to give anyone a message? Any last words?”

Schlatt grinned, choking on a laugh that had clearly died in his throat. “Yeah, tell Quackity,” He reached up, curling his hand around Alivebur’s arm. “Tell him that he has… a flatty patty.” He laughed again, but it came out in short huffs of breath.

Alivebur shook his head, eyes serious now. “I’m not telling him that. Do you have anything kind to say?”

Schlatt’s eyes went all distant. “I… Tell him we could have built something if he hadn’t run off like a coward…!” His words dissolved into more coughing, more wheezing, and a large groan of pain. His hand that was clutching his chest balled up his shirt.

Ah.

Alivebur sighed. “Okay, Schlatt. I’ll tell him.”

“T– Thanks…” He closed his eyes, his wheezing becoming more laboured. His… hand slipped from Alivebur’s arm, and the other that was balling up his shirt _ever so slowly_ relaxed. Alivebur shifted, bringing up one hand to his neck, feeling… feeling…

Ghostbur stood up, backing away. This was worse than the Camarvan. _This was so much worse_. There had been laughter and confusion, Tubbo asking if he’d just had a heart attack while laughing… but this? Here? This was… a death that Alivebur was taking very seriously, and Eret, off to the side, was standing with a grim expression, thumb stroking his lips.

“He’s… he’s gone,” Alivebur said quietly.

Eret dropped his arms, nodding slowly. “That was…”

“Yeah.”

Ghostbur curled his arms around himself. “That was worse.”

Alivebur glanced to him discreetly, eyes sympathetic, almost shining.

Why did Schlatt’s death hit him so much in this time? Had Ghostbur really changed him so much that he had _empathy_ for Schlatt? Of all people? Well, to be fair, it was a pretty… sorrowful moment. It had even touched Ghostbur’s dead heart, _of course_ it would effect Alivebur.

“What now?” Eret asked, stepping closer.

“Can you get Quackity, and the others? They’re up on the hill, by your tower.” Alivebur nodded towards it.

“Okay, I won’t be long,” Eret said, walking away.

“I…” Ghostbur uttered quietly, staring at Schlatt’s dead face.

Alivebur slowly lowered Schlatt to the ground, inching away from him. Though, he was still kneeling. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“You wanted this.”

“I know I did but…” He pressed his hands into the grass, “but it still– I just held a man while he _died_ , Ghostbur. That… is going to haunt me till my dying day.”

Ghostbur sighed. “Yeah, that, uh, never happened in my time.”

“Well this is… so different to your time now.” Alivebur shook his head slowly, minutely. “L’Manberg is safe, I’m safe… Schlatt is dead… I…”

“Things will be better, but it’s never without cost. You knew that.”

Alivebur let out a shaky breath. “Yeah.”

Quackity skidded around the corner, stilling as his eyes set on Schlatt. He walked forward, hesitating, taking a step back, before walking forward again. He fell to his knees as he neared, tilting his head, eyebrows slightly furrowed. He reached out, but snapped his hand back to his chest, holding it there.

“He’s… dead?” he asked, eyes flicking to Alivebur.

Alivebur nodded quickly. “Yeah.”

Quackity swallowed thickly, and Ghostbur could see the tears in his eyes. They’d had a tough falling out, as far as he knew and… whatever they had been… It must have been hard, especially in this setting, over the Camarvan one. Light-hearted turned serious. A different tone for a different time.

“D– Did he say anything a– about me?” Quackity asked, but his voice sounded… sad.

Alivebur frowned, picking at the grass. “He, uh. Nothing nice, Big Q.”

“Just… tell me.”

“He said…” Alivebur closed his eyes, glancing away. “That you… have a flatty patty–”

“Of _fucking_ course he did.” Quackity’s expression morphed into something so painful, Ghostbur had to look away.

“–and he said you could have built something if you hadn’t run off… like a coward.”

Ghostbur glanced towards Quackity, to gauge his reaction, and it screamed… pure sorrow and delight and pain and anguish and joy and– It was too much. He was happy he was dead but… he wasn’t? Or maybe Schlatt’s last words were cutting at him.

Quackity bowed his head, rubbing at his eyes. “Why couldn’t he say _anything_ nice?”

“That’s… what I said to him,” Alivebur murmured, shoulders slumped. “I… I’m sorry, Quackity.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m glad you told me.” He scrubbed at his face, glancing up to Alivebur. “You two were friends once, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“And I’m sorry for yours.”

Ghostbur glanced up to the corner, watching as everyone else approached. Tommy and Tubbo didn’t look too sad, and Niki had half a smile upon her face. Eret’s expression was still grim, probably because he’d actually witnessed Schlatt’s death, and Techno was grinning. Fundy, on the other hand… His eyes were downcast, his mouth twisted, like he didn’t know what to feel or think.

“Wilbur…” Tommy said, stepping forward. “Schlatt is dead, L’Manberg is without a cabinet, you… have to lead us.”

Quackity pushed himself up from the ground, glancing to Tommy. “No, wait, are you sure? I mean Wilbur once tried to rig an _election_.”

“Technically, I never actually managed it,” Alivebur said slowly. He looked up at them, still kneeling in the grass. “If… you all agree, I would like to… lead again but not, not as a government but as…” He stood, brushing himself down. “I have something to say. Will you gather around the podium?” he asked, gesturing towards it.

“For what it’s worth, Wilbur,” Tubbo said. “I’m fine with you leading us again. You decided on a plan that was peaceful, even if…” His eyes briefly slipped to Schlatt’s still form, “Schlatt ended up dying of a… heart attack?”

“You once said you wanted to blow up L’Manberg, Will,” Niki said quietly. “But you’re in your revolutionary outfit and, I miss that you. If you can be that man again, then I’m fine with you leading us as well.”

Quackity shifted on the spot. “I… If you don’t plan to rig any more elections then, maybe I’m fine with it.”

“I’m fine with it,” Fundy jumped in. “This past week, Will, you have shown more strength than I’ve seen in years. You can lead again.”

Techno huffed from behind them all. “He can be a leader, but if I even get a _whiff_ of a government–”

“Techno, shush,” Alivebur cut in. “I will explain all up on the podium. Alright?”

With murmured agreements, Alivebur headed up to the podium as everyone sat down. Ghostbur stood beside him, leaning upon the yellow concrete. Alivebur stood tall, hands placed on either side of the podium. He let out a shaky breath, leaning towards the microphone.

“Welcome to L’Manberg, _L_ ’Manberg. Welcome.”

They all cheered, apart from Techno.

“There was a point where I felt that we could never redeem this nation, that no matter what, blood would be forever shed, and our nation would be only ever bathed in the stuff. But now… I know I was wrong, because here we are, without any blood marring the lands.”

“Yeah!” Tommy shouted out loudly.

Alivebur smiled softly, before a small frown tinged his lips. “But… it can never be a government again.”

Murmured and yelled ‘what’s echoed from the crowd.

He gestured to Techno. “Our good friend Techno would sooner see us all dead than see a government establish itself on these lands again.”

Techno scoffed. “Just give away my plans, that’s _fine_.”

Alivebur rolled his eyes. “You have no right to keep those plans secret now, not with the wither skulls that are currently sitting in your ender chest.” He curled his fingers around the podium. “I know if I said I wanted there to be an election, or if I instilled myself as President, then you’d unleash those withers upon us without a second thought for this land or our lives.”

Everyone whirled on Techno. Ghostbur particularly noted the way Tommy’s expression scrunched up with a sort of betrayal. He looked up to Techno _so much_ , but Alivebur had to warn them one way or another.

“For _that_ reason, I cannot let L’Manberg have a government again. We have to protect ourselves from people like Techno, as well as Dream.”

“Wilbur…” Fundy said quietly, but loud enough. “We can’t… give in.”

Alivebur sighed. “It’s the only way, Fundy. Besides,” He grinned, “L’Manberg doesn’t need a government, it never did.” He banged his fist off the podium. “This place?! It’s freedom! That’s the point. To do what we want, go where we want, be whoever we want…” He glanced off to the side, and Ghostbur had no doubt that he was recalling the first days. “We can be a community. This land still has its independence, we still have our _freedom_!” He looked back to the crowd. “Who needs a government, the people always existed above it anyway! We can work together, and make a beautiful place to live, we can make L’Manberg the envy of the entire SMP!”

Everyone cheered, raising their fists in actual joy? Even Techno smiled. Huh, they liked this idea. Though some cheers were more apprehensive than others. It would simply take time to get used to, that was all.

Alivebur leant in closer to the microphone, looking towards the flag. “See that flag over there, the obsidian one? We’re gonna scrap that, that is _not_ the national flag of our nation. The national flag of our nation is yellow, black, red, white, and blue, and that is one of the first things we must do.”

“Yes!” Niki yelled out. Ghostbur smiled, she was the one who had built the original flag in the first place, and it deserved to be back.

“We must mark out our borders, ensuring that no one! That no one can try to half inch our land! Not without us knowing _exactly_ how much land they’d be stealing from us!” He looked right at Quackity. “But do not fret, we will not build walls again, not unless the people want it. _But_ it should be ground level yellow and black concrete.”

“I can get behind that!” Quackity shouted.

“Yeah!” Tubbo and Tommy yelled.

“And we should… finally rebuild the Camarvan.”

Tommy jumped up from his seat. “Fuck yeah!”

Alivebur chuckled softly, smiling with such a fondness. “Does anyone object to any of that?”

“No!”

“Hell no!”

“Not at all!”

Ghostbur couldn’t be sure who had said what, since so many voices overlapped each other, but those were the phrases and words that were louder than the rest. And they were worth remembering, that no one objected.

Fundy stood up, walking to the edge of the path, he looked up to Alivebur, a gentle grin on his face. “Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah, Fundy?”

He raised his arm up, miming like he was holding something. “Raise a glass to freedom…!”

Alivebur broke out in the biggest grin Ghostbur had ever seen. He copied Fundy’s mime. “Raise a glass to freedom!”

“Raise a glass to freedom!” everyone yelled out.

But Techno rolled his eyes, arms folded. “Oh, here he goes with the musical references again…”

Ghostbur wasn’t sure if anyone else had heard, since the others were laughing and cheering now, but _he’d_ heard it, and… well, he was right. But the references kept them going in the best of moments.

Alivebur spread out his arms, beaming. “Shall we then?”

The others cheered, and with a smile, he made his way down. Ghostbur watched closely as they all hugged each other. A unique joy was being witnessed right now, as Schlatt’s body lay in the background. But they could deal with him in a bit, for now they were allowed to celebrate a victory.

Even if that victory was by default. That was okay… and news would reach others – like Dream – another time. Which meant they had time to enjoy this before anything serious happened.

As Tubbo and Alivebur split off, heading towards the sea – probably to get clay, Niki and Fundy headed off with Eret. He had no doubt that they gonna get wool. Finally, Tommy and Quackity got out their pickaxes, striding straight towards the flag. And… Techno, he huffed and nodded, a tiny half smile upon his lips. He turned and walked away, towards his base.

They all had something to do.

Alivebur didn’t need Ghostbur anymore. He was alive and well and… happy. God! He was _happy_!

With a smile at his own victory, he sat down on the edge of the hill – where the White House used to be – looking out at the river and the trees that were off in the distance. Beneath him, the button room still existed, but he was sure Alivebur would get rid of that soon, and it would all be over.

He relaxed back on his hands, and smiled up at the sky.

* * *

Wilbur placed down the last bit of concrete. _Finally_ , the borders were marked once again. Just a small bit of land, that was all it had ever been. Black and yellow concrete to denote it. He spared a glance towards the flag, Fundy had just finished up the log part of it, and Eret was climbing up the scaffolding, placing down fences as he got high enough.

Niki was at the bottom, shouting instructions, double chests next to her. Probably filled to the brim with the wool they needed. He had given them the concrete they had needed too. Tommy and Quackity were taking a break down at the river, but Tubbo was keeping a watch on them, because soon, they would begin rebuilding the Camarvan, and they’d need a bit of motivation to get started.

Wilbur glanced up at the sky, the sun was beginning to set, the day was coming to a close. Oh… They’d find out what was going to happen to Ghostbur s–

Oh my god, where was Ghostbur?!

Wilbur glanced all around, he had completely forgotten when they had begun their work! Was he already gone? Wait, no, he had to be somewhere! He was always at his side, always! He – very calmly – headed towards Eret’s tower, and luckily, no one noticed him sneaking away. Or, if they did, they merely let him go.

He climbed up, running to the edge, eyes darting all around–

 _Oh_ , thank goodness. He was right there, on the hill. He wasn’t looking at L’Manberg though. Instead, he was staring out at the forest. That was strange in itself, what was stranger, however, was that he was _there_ and not at Wilbur’s side.

He missed his commentary at what was happening. Even though he hadn’t noticed, as soon as he had, it had felt weird.

Soon enough, he was approaching from behind. Ghostbur looked so relaxed, and happy… Wilbur was glad for that. He deserved a bit of peace, after all the worry he had caused him.

“Ghostbur…” he murmured, sitting down beside him.

Ghostbur acknowledged him with a small smile, glancing towards the sun as it was setting to their right. “Once midnight comes, I suppose whatever is will be.”

Wilbur hummed. “Do you think you’ll go back to your reality, stay in this one, or disappear?”

“I wish I knew, and those themselves are theories. I _could_ be stuck here.”

“But, if I live the day, regardless, you shouldn’t exist.”

Ghostbur stared at his hands, raising one up, parallel to the sun. “Perhaps. I think I would prefer this reality. At least you’d stand up to Dream.”

“Don’t worry.” Wilbur placed his hand at Ghostbur’s shoulder. “I won’t let him _near_ Tommy. No matter what that kid does, he’ll always be my right hand man.”

“He needs his discs back… to be free.”

“I know.”

Ghostbur sighed, dropping his hand, shrugging Wilbur’s off his shoulder. “Don’t let this country bow down to tyranny. Never let it become what we created it to escape from.”

“I will try not to.” Wilbur tossed a glance over his shoulder, looking at Fundy. He was climbing down the flag, maybe they were going to make a start on the main bit now. “I hold our ideals close to my chest, Ghostbur. Every day I wake up and keep them in mind, even at my lowest points. _Freedom_.” He glanced towards the sun set. “Isn’t that what life is all about?”

“I would say life is about living every moment you have, and even when all seems lost, never give in to the darkest instinct inside you.” He sighed, swallowing thickly. “You know what I remember… the end… it isn’t worth it, not by your own request when so much of your life is left.”

Wilbur banged the heel of his foot off the edge a few times. “If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in our time together, it’s that you have a lot of faith for a ghost. A lot of faith in _me_ …”

“I thought I hated you, but all it really was…”

“Was the depression,” Wilbur finished.

Ghostbur nodded jerkily. “Yeah. I let it fester, but I… I saved you from the worst of it.”

“It came close, I think. I wanted to protect my nation from… you know.”

“Because… blowing it up would end it, and anything that was birthed from the ashes would only ever be a poor imitation and not the real thing. We wanted to protect it from becoming something like it is in my reality, to stop its _own_ corruption.”

“Yeah…” Wilbur pursed his lips. “But you were right, it can be saved, it wasn’t… too far gone. You simply weren’t given the opportunity to see that.”

Ghostbur dragged his fingertips over his lips. “Yeah, I wasn’t, and yet they did rebuild, and I helped and…”

“And it became tyranny, like we were scared of.”

“It’s not L’Manberg. It’s in the same place, but it’s not our nation.”

“No… maybe not, but it could be again.”

“It could.” Especially if he returned to his time. He would give Tubbo so much advice.

Wilbur gripped Ghostbur’s shoulder briefly, standing up. “Are you coming? There’s plenty of hours till midnight. We’re going to rebuilt the Camarvan.”

Ghostbur slowly smiled. “I would love that. For the first time, we can do it with the others.”

“Yeah, with true community spirit!” he said with a laugh.

Ghostbur stared at Wilbur for a few moments, and then he was standing, grinning. “A community… it was all it should have been before everything.”

“Yeah.” Wilbur smiled sadly. “But, we’re here now, and that’s what counts.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Wilbur patted him on the back. “Come on, let’s go.”

As he walked away, Ghostbur closely followed, and things were okay again… Regardless, in a few hours, he could lose Ghostbur forever, and he’d never have him by his side again. That was… strange to think of. He didn’t like it all that much.

As he approached Tommy, Tubbo, and Quackity, he beamed.

“Shall we get started?” he asked.

Tubbo jumped up. “I’ve gotten some resources, so yeah! We can get started on the base, definitely.”

Wilbur grinned. “Good, let’s start.”

With a sigh, Tommy picked himself up. “I want to do the white concrete.”

“Okay, you can do that,” Wilbur said with a fond laugh.

Quackity pulled out his pickaxe. “Any more materials we need?”

“Apples!” Tubbo yelled out. “For the headlights.”

Quackity nodded. “On it!”

Ghostbur shifted a small bit, and Wilbur shot him an encouraging smile. He smiled back. “I want to do the tyres and the looms.”

“Okay.” Wilbur clapped his hands together. “I’ll do the stone, and Tubbo! Want to do the wood and the slabs?”

Tubbo grinned. “Yes!”

“Well, then, time to rebuild!”

\--

“Thank you, Eret,” Wilbur said, as he placed the pink wool on the crafting table.

“Plenty more where that came from,” Eret said with a smile. “This is for the pink bed, isn’t it?”

Wilbur grinned. “Yeah, it is.”

They were still missing plenty of the interior, the table, the brewing stands, the chains, the cauldron, the chests, and the blue glass. But… they had gotten the shell done, in _exactly_ the same place it had been. Right down to the last block.

Wilbur finally had his home back.

He went inside, and placed the bed down on the double chest he had stolen from Niki, after they had finished with the flag.

It looked so beautiful, to have the flag back.

They had their borders marked, the flag built once again, and the Camarvan slap bang in the middle. This was their L’Manberg once again, what the original once stood for, what it should always be.

A special place. Where men could go and emancipate the brutality and tyranny of their rulers.

No matter what had happened, it _was_ that special place again now.

Ghostbur sighed from behind him, and Wilbur turned to see him staring up, through the holes in the roof.

“What is it?” he asked slowly.

Ghostbur looked to him, frowning. “It’s almost midnight. We only have moments left until we know.”

“Oh.”

Ghostbur smiled sadly. “It’s been nice getting to know who I really am again.”

Wilbur opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. “I…” He furrowed his brow. “But I’m not you, not anymore.”

“Yeah…” Ghostbur hung his head, sighing. “I’m glad I saved you. I’m glad I got to see a world where there’s hope.”

“Hey… look at me.”

He did so.

“If you go back to your time, never give up. L’Manberg will always exist.” Wilbur patted his chest. “Right in here. In everyone who knows. The land can always move, it will never be truly gone, as long as people are fighting for true freedom. As long as there are underdogs being beaten down by tyrants.”

Ghostbur nodded, smiling slightly. “Yeah. If there is any truth in this world, it’s that.”

“Hey… You said you didn’t have a grave in your time, right?”

“I don’t, yeah.”

Wilbur breathed in deeply. “You deserve to be remembered. It takes a strong spirit to save someone as lost as me, and even though you _are_ a version of me, you didn’t have to do it. Thank you, Ghostbur.”

Ghostbur frowned, eyes tearing up as his brow knitted. “Thank you, Alivebur. Even though that’s coming from an alive me, it still means something.”

“Good.”

Ghostbur looked up. “It’s midnight.”

Wilbur drew in a breath, watching carefully.

For a moment, it seemed as if all was alright. That Ghostbur was going to stay.

But his hands lit up in particles. White particles. In a star shape. It spread up his arms, but as it did so, his hands became faint, as if they were barely physical anymore. Ghostbur looked to him, alarmed.

“I… I don’t want to go,” he said, tears spilling from his eyes.

Wilbur sniffed, letting out a deep sigh. He stepped forward, hugging Ghostbur tightly. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Ghostbur clung onto him, balling up his coat. “If I go back…”

“I know, I know, it’s okay, Ghostbur. You can make things okay.”

“I… What do I say to Fundy? I remember, _I know_.”

Wilbur swallowed thickly, willing his eyes not to well up. Why was this emotional? Why did it _have_ to be? “Just be yourself, he won’t expect anything less.”

“I said that…”

“I know.”

“I’ll be myself. I’ll… I’ll, yeah.”

Wilbur closed his eyes, the particles were up to his neck now. “Hey, Ghostbur?”

“Yeah?”

“You not only deserve to be remembered, but you deserve to be loved too. Okay?”

Ghostbur sniffed, nodding. “Okay.”

“That counts as self-love too.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Wilbur blew out a breath. “Goodbye…”

“Goodb–”

He opened his eyes… There was… nothing in his arms anymore. Ghostbur was _gone_. Nothing left behind, none of the stuff he carried on him. He was just, gone. He didn’t even get his goodbye out…

Wilbur stepped back, staring at the spot he’d just been but… Yeah. Ghostbur was no longer in this reality. If he was back in his own… he wished him the best of luck. Because from what he’d heard, things were _shit_ there.

“Will, hey, do you–” Fundy said, appearing in the Camarvan, but he stopped still as he set eyes on Wilbur. “Is… is he gone?”

Wilbur bit at his lip, nodding. “Yeah, he’s uh… He, uh, disappeared, slowly, just now.”

“Oh… You look sad.”

“I… I’m going to miss him. He was so different to me, and I… I don’t know, Fundy, I just… don’t know.”

Fundy slipped whatever he had been holding – Wilbur hadn’t been paying much attention – into his pocket. He approached him, pulling him into a careful hug. “It seemed like he became a bit like support for you, I’m sorry.”

Wilbur hugged him tightly. “Thanks, son.”

“No problem, Dad.”

He backed out of the hug, patting Fundy on the shoulder. He smiled sadly. “What did you want to ask me?”

“Oh, I was wondering if you had your guitar? Everyone’s around a fire, and we’re singing songs.”

Wilbur turned to the back room, pulling it out of the double chest. “Yeah. I always carry it on me.” He held it out to Fundy. “Do you wanna play it?”

Fundy lit up with a grin. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, go on.” He pushed it towards him.

Fundy took it into his hands. “Thanks, Dad. Are you coming?”

Wilbur drew in a breath… all that had happened today… maybe it was worth ending the night with a good song. Yeah. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss you playing for the world.”

Fundy rolled his eyes. “You’ve started saying a lot of cringey shit since you began trying to be a good dad.” He turned on his heel, stepping towards the door.

Wilbur followed, ruffling Fundy’s hair. “Aw, am I embarrassing you?”

Fundy grumbled, “Always, as usual.”

Wilbur grinned. “Good, it’s my job.”

“I…” Fundy stilled in the doorway, with the iron door wide open as he stood upon the pressure plate. He tossed a glance over his shoulder. “I suppose I’d rather have that than not have you at all.”

Wilbur nodded gently. “As long as it’s okay?”

“It’s okay. Embarrass me, Will. You are my dad, after all.”

Wilbur grinned as Fundy walked out of the Camarvan. “Brilliant. I’ll start learning some dad jokes.”

Fundy groaned. “Great…”

Wilbur beamed, and followed Fundy right to the campfire, which had been set up by the flag and the water. Fundy sat down, cradling the guitar in his lap, and Wilbur sat beside him. Everyone was here, except Techno. Even Eret had stayed, he seemed happy.

And he had helped a bit today.

Maybe… maybe Wilbur had room in his heart to forgive him. He had tried, and was actively trying to redeem himself. Maybe one day, they could repair their friendship. _Maybe_. If that ever happened, the anthem would need one word changed. He would have to keep that in mind.

“Any requests?” Fundy asked.

“The Story of Tonight, The Story of Tonight, The Story of Tonight,” Tommy and Tubbo chanted, slapping their hands off their legs.

Everyone laughed, and Fundy adjusted his seating position. “Okay. Here it goes…”

He began playing, and everyone joined in to sing, swinging back and forth in their sitting positions. There was so much joy for such an eventful day. But then, most people hadn’t experienced what Wilbur had. Holding Schlatt as he had died, and losing Ghostbur.

But this was enough to bring a good smile to his face. It was enough for tonight.

They’d tell the story of today, they would.

And Wilbur would surely write it down one day, and keep the book safe somewhere. L’Manberg needed its history told. Even what had happened in its Manberg era.

Wilbur closed his eyes and leant back on his hands, listening, picking out Fundy’s voice from the chorus of voices. His son… He was going to spend _so much_ time with him. He was going to be a good dad.

“Raise a glass to freedom…” they all sang out, but Fundy’s voice sounded so sincere as he sung it. He believed in this nation, and one day… one day he would look back and know everything that had happened, everything they built, was worth it. Wilbur had promised him this world for a reason.

Because it _was_ worth it after all.

\--

Wilbur jumped out of bed, rolling his shoulders. He pulled his coat out of his chest, shrugging it on. If Techno was here, he’d be impressed that he’d actually made the effort to wash it every few days. For once, he was taking care of his things. He had the time to, especially since he wasn’t a President, just a guy people went to with ideas.

Quickly, he checked over his supplies. Hm. He’d need more glistening melons soon. They really needed to get started on the farm. They had the carrot farm, so they were okay on that front. But he did need someone to make a run for magma creams again. Tommy just couldn’t stay away from lava. Oh, and they definitely needed a few more pufferfish, especially since Tubbo was working on some project off in the ocean.

They had run _completely_ out of rabbit’s feet, however. Not that they needed leaping potions, but it was fun, and always got Fundy to do that laugh which made Wilbur’s entire life light up.

The _only_ thing they had plenty of was sugar, funnily enough. And of course they had plenty of blaze powder and nether wart. Luckily.

He picked out a book from his double chest, grabbing his quill that he had tucked under his pillow. People were always stealing his pens lately, and so he’d hidden his new one. He held the book and quill in one hand as he strode through the Camarvan. Fully equipped with brewing stands, decorated with chains, and they had a cauldron off in the corner.

He walked out of the Camarvan, breathing in the fresh air, tilting his face up to the sky. The sun was particularly warm today. He rounded the corner to sit by the lake, eyes tracing the new buildings he would never get sick of.

All remnants of the festival had been long taken down, and the space centre had been fixed and decorated. It was nothing special, and nothing that would go anywhere, but it was something nice to look at, and was filled with science books Tubbo had been working on.

The old podium had been taken down, and a wooden one had been reconstructed in its place. A lot of vines had been added to it – Fundy’s idea – and it looked a lot more friendly with flowerpots and L’Manberg banners. It wasn’t used all that much, but sometimes Niki would sit up there, or Fundy would stand at the podium, looking over the land, or Tommy would sit with Tubbo, and they’d mess about.

Quackity tended to stay away from it. Maybe there were too many bad memories of that spot.

Up where the White House used to be was their proudest creation. The library. Made from stone bricks and spruce wood, it was a lovely thing indeed. Filled to the brim with famous books and history books. A lot of it had been Wilbur’s collection in the past, and Tubbo had brought some more books from his secret library too. People went there all the time, even those who weren’t residents of L’Manberg.

A lot was in there, a lot of memories, a lot of history. And some people, like Sam for example, wanted to read up.

And then there was the apiary that Tubbo had been working on. It was almost fully complete, he just had a few more details to add now.

It really was the perfect place. They had all made it the perfect place. Wilbur was so proud. They had almost surpassed the longest peace time L’Manberg had ever experienced too. It _was_ the special place he had once created.

Though, Dream had been keeping a keen eye on them. Wilbur was bracing himself for an attack any day now. But… they were prepared. He had a secret stash of strength and regeneration splash potions, in case he needed to get everyone out quickly and alive. They weren’t for fighting, just for surviving.

They weren’t nearly rich enough to take anyone on. Wilbur still didn’t have any netherite. He simply stuck to the basics.

He opened up his book, leaning it upon his knee, and he set his quill on the paper. Time to write.

-

_I still think I see him, sometimes. Up on the hills. A spirit that shouldn’t exist, and yet he does. I don’t know if he is real, I hope he is, because I dread to think how he would handle being back in his own time. However, if he is back, then I hope he can find true peace, and tell the truth to his loved ones. Maybe he would even have a chance at saving his L’Manberg from its corruption._

_He deserves something at least, because he saved me from it all. He saved my life. That should be honoured. I tried my best to sneak him into a few official books that we now hold dear in our library. History books you could call them, I suppose. I mentioned a friend who had helped, someone who I said was like myself, but gave him no name._

_Hopefully, that is enough to honour him._

_I miss him too, even though his breakdowns were hard to deal with. He had a lot of hope for a dead man. And his music, when he began to use the note blocks to cope and distract himself… it was something special. I really miss him. Strangely? He was myself but he wasn’t. He had gone through things I couldn’t imagine, things that never happened._

_Which is all down to him._

_I hope, wherever he is, if he’s still out there somewhere, in his own time, or still lingering in mine, I hope_ _that he is doing well. I hope he’s happy._

_– Wilbur Soot_

-

Wilbur closed the book and lay it on his lap, leaning back on his hands. He stared up at the warm sun and smiled. It was something for himself, a diary maybe, but only a small one, with this entry alone. He would hide it in the Camarvan chests, and maybe one day he would hide it in the library, because that was where something like this belonged, eventually.

It was simply titled ‘Memories’, which he thought was suiting, considering everything.

It mattered, to remember.

“Hey, Will.”

Wilbur smiled, shooting a fond glance Phil’s way. “Hey, Phil. Is Fundy ready then?”

“Yeah, he should be on his way.”

Wilbur picked himself off the ground. “Let me just put this away.”

“Okay.” Phil smiled softly. “You’re writing something else now?”

“Just, a little something, for myself.”

“Ah, alright.”

Wilbur tucked the book under his arm. “Do you have the rods?”

“Yep, they’re all ready to go.”

“Good, good.”

He headed back inside, hiding his pen under his pillow, placing the book under a bunch of dyes and wools and other random crap he had in his chest.

As he was heading out, he glanced through the window, and there was Fundy, chatting away with his grandad. They were both holding fishing rods now, that had a sparkly purple hue due to their enchantments. Wilbur grinned. He couldn’t wait for this fishing trip.

He never had taught Fundy, back in the day. But Phil had taught Wilbur, when he was a kid, and it was about time he passed that skill on.

He headed out, once again, and rounded the van, jumping into the conversation. Phil gave him a rod, and they all got talking about this and that as they walked to the pier.

Wilbur couldn’t have been happier. Life was… good, it was worth living. A path leading someone in the wrong direction could be changed, someone lost could be found, and with the right words someone could be saved. And because of all that, he lived. He survived. And now… he was getting to live a life he never should have had.

And through all the flaws that still existed, it was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, the end! I hope you enjoyed :D!


End file.
